THERE IS HOPE

The following posts are provided by individual partners of our Alliance, and do not necessarily imply Alliance endorsement.

The Virginia Alliance Against Assisted Suicide

Personal stories about assisted suicide published in op-eds, letters to the editor and other news-related items:

No medically assisted death in Virginia

No medically assisted death in Virginia

January 13, 2024
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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

October 23, 2022
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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

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.

Tom Steffens: Legalizing Assisted Suicide Risks Harm to Veterans

March 7, 2020
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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.