Story Archives - NoSuicideVA

No medically assisted death in Virginia

By NoSuicide Virginia | January 13, 2024

We’ve all known people whose final days were marked by pain and distress. We shouldn’t be complacent about these things, but hastening death is not the answer. We do not need a self-killing-with-medications law in Virginia.

Bill Fertig: Oppose Assisted Suicide Legislation in Virginia

By NoSuicide Virginia | October 23, 2022

The choice of suicide over life, regardless of the difficulties, is always tragic. Often, victims do not consider or tend to undervalue the positive influence that their lives can have on others. At onetime, I personally considered ending it all. – By: Bill Fertig

Tom Steffens: Legalizing Assisted Suicide Risks Harm to Veterans

By NoSuicide Virginia | March 7, 2020

Our national suicide rate for non-veterans is 16.2 for every 100,000 people; our veteran suicide rate is 30 per 100,000. And female veterans are more than twice as likely to die by suicide compared to their civilian counterparts. Veterans and their families already fight to overcome many challenges including PTSD, TBI, debilitating wounds and injuries and the ever-present bureaucracy. Never should they have to contend with the slippery slope of a statewide, government-sanctioned assisted-suicide program. Yet such a law would lead us in that direction.

I see this same principle alive across our commonwealth as civil society and our public servants work tirelessly to support our 700,000 veterans every day. Despite that extraordinary effort, we all know that the men and women who valiantly served our country are at a higher risk for suicide.