Bishop Gerald Barnes has authorized parishes to collect signatures needed to help qualify the referendum for the ballot. About 360,000 signatures must be validated by Jan. 4 in order to get the referendum on the ballot.
“Given the moral gravity of this new law, which greatly challenges our belief as Catholics in the dignity of every human person, my brother Bishops of California and I have decided to support an effort to place a voter referendum of the law on the November 2016 ballot,” Bishop Barnes said in a letter to parish pastors and pastoral coordinators announcing his approval of local signature gathering. “I am calling on all the pastors, priests, deacons, religious men and women and all the laity of our Diocese to participate actively in the campaign to overturn this law.”
Earlier this year, many Catholics who reside in the Diocese participated in advocacy efforts to defeat doctor prescribed suicide legislation. Among state legislators who represent San Bernardino and Riverside counties, they were largely successful. Of the 20 state senators and assembly members who represent the Diocese, 15 voted against the bill.
Bishop Barnes issued a statement following the announcement that Gov. Brown had signed the bill.
“Today I am saddened and disappointed that a bill legalizing assisted suicide has been signed into law by Governor Brown. We believe that the time of our passing from earthly life is to be determined by God, who calls us to cherish and protect all life, from conception to natural death. For this reason, and because we fear the potential impact of this law on vulnerable populations, our Church vocally opposed it.”
The California law, based on similar legislation in Oregon, allows doctors to give lethal drugs to adults with a terminal illness if they are deemed mentally competent and expected to die within six months. It will not take effect until 90 days after the end of the legislature’s special healthcare session, which will likely be next year.
The controversial bill had drawn criticism for months. It was temporarily withdrawn from the State Senate in July, but resurfaced and was passed Sept. 11 by a vote of 23-14.
Health care and civil rights groups also opposed the bill, along with disabilities rights groups, who say that the legislation discriminates against the disabled and could lead to pressure on them to end their own lives.
Opponents argued that assisted suicide sends a dangerous societal message that suicide is an acceptable way to handle pain and difficulty. They pointed to abuses in other states where the practice has been legalized and lethal prescriptions have changed hands – either knowingly or unknowingly – with deadly results.
In addition, those fighting the bill noted that terminal diagnoses are not always correct, and assisted suicide may end the life of patients who may have gone on to live longer than anticipated or lived to see medical advances that could have cured or eased their condition.