Pope Francis Rips Physician-Assisted Suicide As ‘Throwaway Culture’

By Tom Joyce | September 6, 2021, 12:29 EDT

Pope Francis is no fan of physician-assisted suicide, and he recently offered criticism for places in the world that are legalizing it.

The pope’s criticism comes as the issue is becoming more prominent in Europe. Back in March, Spain became the fourth European country to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg already had already legalized it. Additionally, there is a petition in Italy with more than 750,000 signatures to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

The pope said that the practice shows a lack of regard for human life, in an interview with COPE (People’s Radiowaves of Spain Network) on Wednesday, September 1. It’s a radio station owned by the Spanish bishops’ conference.

“What is [deemed] useless is discarded,” Pope Francis said. “Old people are disposable material; they are a nuisance. Not all of them, but of course, in the collective subconscious of the throwaway culture, the old, the terminally ill, and unwanted children, too; they are returned to the sender before they are born.”

“This throwaway culture has marked us,” he added. “And it marks the young and the old. It has a strong influence on one of the tragedies of today’s European culture.”

Physician-assisted suicide is not legal in Massachusetts despite pushes to legalize it in the past and present.

Back in 2012, Bay Staters rejected legalizing physician-assisted suicide on the statewide ballot 51 percent to 49 percent. Strong opposition to the measure existed in urban, minority-heavy communities that traditionally vote for Democratic politicians, including Springfield, Lawrence, and Everett.

Although Massachusetts voters rejected the measure, that hasn’t stopped certain state legislators from trying to pass the measure into law.

Two bills have been filed that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in this state (S.1384 and H.2381). The House version has 72 sponsors between both chambers, including three Republican state representatives: state Representative Donald Wong (R-Saugus), state Representative James Kelcourse (R-Newburyport), and state Representative Lenny Mirra (R-Georgetown).

This marks the third straight session in which supporters have filed a bill in the Massachusetts Legislature seeking to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

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