My experience fighting assisted suicide

The interview on assisted suicide in the Dec. 26 issue was a timely commentary on a series of new laws that give in to the belief that there are lives not worth living. 

How many times do we hear news that a friend or an acquaintance died by suicide? Our hearts break. “Oh no,” we whisper, “if only I had known how bad it was, could I have made a difference?” Would we feel any better if that person had died by suicide with the help of a physician?

In my final term in Congress, I and several other members tried to encourage the House to use its legal authority to block Washington, D.C.’s assisted suicide law that became effective in 2017. However, the institutional pro-life lobby was not asking Congress to act. There were concerns that if the vote did not pass, it would set a bad precedent.  

The lesson learned from this experience: Legislators need to hear the voices of those opposed to assisted suicide legislation. Americans have the freedom to speak and petition their government. 

 — Keith Rothfus, Sewickley, Pennsylvania, former U.S. Representative, Pennsylvania’s Twelfth Congressional District, 2013-2019