Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
A favorite tactic of terrorists is to perform a decoy attack before a major attack. Not only is the attention of authorities and the public diverted, but the first attack is monitored closely by the terrorists.
They watch to see how the authorities react. The first attack has the additional consequence of causing the authorities to waste resources responding to the first attack so they have fewer resources to respond to the real attack.
Beyond that, those who responded to the first attack are often emotionally worn-out. And if the first attack was prevented, or a false alarm, there is the “boy who cried wolf” effect in place for the real attack.
Could that be the tactic of those behind the newly-introduced Connecticut “Death with Dignity” or assisted-suicide bill, raised bill 1138, now before Stamford’s Senator Andrew McDonald’s Judiciary Committee?
The Catholic Church in Connecticut just last Sunday issued a call to action from the pulpits to defeat another bill before the Judiciary Committee requiring priests and bishops to cede control of all Catholic Church assets to lay boards. Now they are alerting local pastors of the appearance of the assisted suicide legislation. The Church strongly opposes assisted-suicide and other forms of euthanasia.
There is no “conscience clause” in this bill, so physicians and pharmacists who are morally opposed to suicide would nevertheless be required to prescribe the death drugs if a patient requests it. But isn’t the lack of such a clause a predictable outcome? The proponents of the assisted-suicide bill are aware of how the Catholic Church in Connecticut responded under similar circumstances.
Remember, the terrorist in the opening to this essay who anticipate an opponent’s response based on past actions? Now, remember, the Church’s response last year to the legislation to force Catholic hospitals to administer a potential abortificant?
Initially, the church threatened to close the Catholic hospitals in the state if the legislation became law. Then, in the opinion of many, the Church caved, by agreeing to a bill without an exception for Catholic hospitals. If the Church’s initial moral stance was abandoned in the “Plan B” matter, might it be a good assumption to think they could again let a law be enacted without a “conscience clause?”
One would hope the Catholic Church in Connecticut was encouraged and emboldened by its recent success. The victory should bolster their resolve and rectitude to stand tall against this form of euthanasia. But they will likely have a harder time rallying the troops for this battle.
First, there is the “cry wolf” factor. Several thousand Catholics, at the request of their priests, marched on Hartford last week to protest a bill, which the sponsors, in a tactical move, withdrew hours before. The Church was able to halt three-quarters of the buses planning to descend upon the capital, but the activation of the troops and intense but brief and successful lobbying effort did somewhat deplete a bit of the Church’s political capital, both with the soldiers in the pews and with the legislators.
Also, the issue this past week was a direct frontal assault on the Catholic Church specifically. Many people will feel less vociferous about a moral issue not specific to the Catholic Church. And this bill is sure to be couched as a matter of choice. (It is only the doctors and pharmacists who will have no choice.)
Catholics and social conservatives in the Nutmeg state should get used to these battles. Connecticut is becoming a hotbed of liberal activism. It is one of only two states to permit homosexual marriage (Massachusetts being the other). Were the bill to become law, Connecticut would be one of the two or three states to require doctors to prescribe drugs to assist patients in killing themselves. Oregon has an assisted suicide law and the state of Washington passed a referendum in November allowing such a law.
Additionally, the Judiciary Committee this coming week is considering a “transgender rights” bill. Another bill the committee may pass is a “micro-coding” bill which will have the practical impact of making illegal in Connecticut every currently manufactured firearm now in existence. Face it, Connecticut is becoming a deep blue state. I now understand better the expression, between the devil and the deep blue sea.