From Marie Tasy, Executive Director
New Jersey Right to Life
Today, I am happy to share the good news that the Assembly pulled A2270, the Assisted Suicide Bill from the Board List around 8 p.m. last night after the sponsor was unable to get enough votes to pass the bill. It was a long day which involved a lot of interaction with legislators, but it was well worth the effort.
Unlike the Compassion and Choices advocates who wrote the Assisted Suicide law and were apprised of the scheduling of the committee hearing and vote well in advance, we were dealing with last minute notice about the hearing and false and misleading information about the vote. Despite those roadblocks, we were able to let our legislators know that NJ citizens are opposed to assisted suicide.
This was a team effort on the part of so many people, and I want to personally thank you for doing your part to stop this terribly misguided bill. Our work is far from over, however. The sponsor told the media after the session was over that he plans to bring the bill back up in September.
Please continue to email, phone, and plan to meet with your legislators over the summer to communicate your opposition to this issue. Please tell them that you expect them to Vote No on this bill if it comes up for a vote. Please also make every effort to educate and speak to friends and family about this issue at your summer barbecues and parties. Every district is represented by three legislators; a State Senator and 2 Assembly members so please contact all three. If you don't know who your legislators are, please call the office of Legislative Services at 1-800-792-8630 or go to the NJ Legislature's webpage here.
In the meantime, we will be watching this issue and will inform you when any additional action needs to be taken. Please provide us with any feedback you may receive regarding your legislators' position on this issue.
I am including a link to a great op-ed by John B. Kelly that explains the dangers of assisted suicide which you may want to read and share. Op-ed.
Again, thank you!
If you would like to help the New Jersey Right to Life with their work, please use this link.
