Mr. Chairman, I strongly believe that we can and must do better for our disabled and ill citizens than kill them. You cannot solve problems by getting rid of the people to whom the problems happen. We recognize it as a cry for help, as a view that can and will be changed. Sadly, that is exactly what opponents of H.R. 4006 seek to do. I know that it will be said it is different for those who are terminally ill.
Depression is an illness, and it distorts judgment.
We should treat it in terminally ill individuals as much as in others. Let no one suppose, however, that this is an issue that applies only to the terminally ill. Authorizing assisted suicide for those with terminal illness is only the tip of the iceberg. We can see what happened in the Netherlands. In 1981, a Dutch court said that under certain conditions, a doctor could assist a terminally ill person's suicide.