What is the Proposed “Death With Dignity” Law in NJ?

The State of New Jersey has recently proposed a so-called “death with dignity” law. The legislation, formally known as A 2451, Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, is not yet approved but is working its way through the process for a bill to become law.

The phrase “death with dignity” replaces the previously used language, such as “physician-assisted suicide.” Regardless of the label, the purported purpose is the same.

This new law, proponents argue, is meant to empower a terminally ill person to end his or her life by use of lethal drugs.

Opponents of the measure argue that given the advanced state of palliative care there is no need for such an option. But, even in the absence of such pain-relieving options, critics worry that if the State acknowledges a “right to die” then the recognition of the  innate dignity of each and every human person may begin to erode.

Consider, for example, that, in other countries, the right of terminally ill patients to end their life has now morphed into an expanded right. In 2015, physicians in Belgium granted an otherwise physically healthy 24-year-old female’s request to be euthanized. Her reason for wanting to dies was depression. Other countries are now entertaining allowing people who feel they have lived “a full life” the right to die. This, stunningly, can include youths!

Make no mistake, New Jersey’s law is narrowly tailored and certainly does not allow depressed people to ask their physician to help them end their life. But the old slippery slope argument is more than a mere hypothetical given the way other countries have seen similar laws expand and change.

In the end, the question of whether this law should pass is more than a mere legal question. The proposed legislation deals with important moral, ethical, sociological and philosophical questions.

Should the new law be passed, we at the law firm of Gruber, Colabella, Liuzza & Thompson can help navigate through the law’s ramifications.