The authors of Senate Bill 128 withdrew it from consideration by the Assembly Health Committee on July 7 because it did not have the 10 votes needed to pass. While supporters of the bill pledged to bring it back next year, and also indicated they may pursue a state ballot initiative next year to legalize assisted suicide, opponents of the bill welcomed the decision to pull it from consideration in the Assembly.
“We are very pleased at the outcome and grateful for the hard work done by the assembled coalition at Californians Against Assisted Suicide,” said Edward “Ned” Dolejsi, Executive Director of the California Catholic Conference. “The physicians, health care workers, disabled advocates, religious groups and others who came together to oppose the bill was key to the success of the campaign and we are proud to have played a role in that long-standing coalition.”
Bishop Gerald Barnes played an active role in advocating against SB 128, contacting members of the Legislature who represent districts in the Diocese to express the position of the Church on the issue and recording radio spots in Spanish that urged Catholics to lobby their representatives against the bill.
“Our Church has been working very hard to oppose this bill because our faith tells us that the time of our passing from earthly life is determined by God, not by us,” Bishop Barnes said in the Spanish language radio spot that aired on Radio El Sembrador 1670 AM and Guadalupe Radio 1510 AM. “We know that every life is precious to God and that we, his people, must do all we can to protect and celebrate life.”
Diocesan ministers from the Department of Life, Dignity and Justice also worked diligently to organize meetings with legislators and to inform lay Catholics of opportune moments to make contact with their representatives.
“It was the hundreds of phone call and emails, and the powerful visits that our people paid our legislators that caused those elected representatives to think twice about how SB 128 would affect the poor, the ill, the elderly and the disabled,” said Marie Widmann, Director of Pro Life Catholic Ministries for the Diocese.
Prior to the removal of SB 128 from the legislative process, Pro Life Catholic Ministries had scheduled information sessions at four parishes and the Diocesan Pastoral Center about the potential impact of the bill on the poor and vulnerable. The sessions were offered as scheduled because the bill is likely to reappear next year.
“Now is the time to continue to share the Church’s teaching on end of life and to build advocacy teams,” said Widmann
The Catholic Church is part of Californians Against Assisted Suicide (CAAS), a statewide coalition that includes diverse constituencies that are nonetheless united against any efforts to legalize assisted suicide.