Dignity of life issues to be debated during this year's 45-day state legislative session

Friday, Jan. 29, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY  — The 2016 Utah legislative session, which began Jan. 25, contains several pieces of proposed legislation that deal with issues of concern to Catholics. The most prominent of these bills are:

• End of Life Options Act, proposed by Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck. At press time the language for this bill was not available, but last year a similar bill named “Death with Dignity” was proposed by the same legislator. That bill failed, but this physician-assisted suicide issue continues to be brought forward in several states. The Catechism of the Catholic Church opposes assisted suicide because of the belief that people are created in the image of God and life is a gift from God, to be preserved and protected until natural death.

 According to Jean Hill, Diocese of Salt Lake City government liaison, other philosophical concerns regarding this bill are that it sends messages that some lives are not worth living, and that people who are frail and physically dependent are not inherently dignified.

Utah Catholics could tell their legislators that “you are really picking winners and losers in a life-or-death battle with this legislation, and it doesn’t matter which side of this legislation you’re on. If you’re pro-assisted suicide, you’re picking winners and losers as to who gets to choose this. For us, it’s we’re picking winners and losers as to who gets to live,” Hill said at the Jan. 16 Respect for the Dignity of Life Day, held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church and sponsored by the diocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life.

• Repeal of the death penalty, proposed by Sen. Steve Urquhart. The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty; as Pope Francis said in his address last year to the U.S. Congress, “every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Recently my brother bishops here in the United States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.”   

In addition to tracking these bills through the legislative cycle, the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City will advocate again for health insurance coverage for the working poor; last year, the Utah Legislature declined to expand Medicaid and also rejected the Healthy Utah program proposed by Gov. Gary Herbert.

Several bills regarding the criminal justice system also will make their way through the legislative process this year; Hill said she particularly will be watching those regarding services to victims of human trafficking, and sentencing of juvenile offenders.

For information about the 2016 Utah legislative session, visit http://le.utah.gov/.

To see what bills the diocese is tracking, and the position it takes, visit http://www.dioslc.org/ministries/governmentliaison.