Legislative update

Friday, Feb. 27, 2015

During these final weeks of the Utah legislative session (which ends at midnight on March 12) several vital issues will be debated:

HB 348 Criminal Justice Programs and Amendments: As introduced, this bill represents the best practices for protecting public safety by reducing Utah’s high recidivism rate to prison and jail.  The bill is the result of an eight-month review by the PEW Research Center and Utah’s criminal justice stakeholders, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, the courts, counties, victim advocates, mental health and substance abuse providers, religious organizations, and many others. The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City supports the bill as introduced, but watch for amendments that may render the changes less effective.

HB 391 Utah “Death with Dignity” Act: This misnamed bill would legalize assisted suicide in Utah. The bill allows anyone over the age of 18 to legally commit suicide if they have a “bodily disorder that cannot be cured or successfully palliated and that causes such severe suffering that the patient prefers death.” The bill is an obvious affront to the dignity and sanctity of life, and is a reckless policy in Utah, which ranks among the highest suicide and depression rates in the nation.

SB 164 Healthy Utah: Both HB 348 and the assisted suicide legislation confirm the importance of passing SB 164 to help those in need. As Oregon has discovered with its assisted suicide law, some of the people who turn to suicide lack adequate health insurance. Within the criminal justice reform efforts, it is clear that recidivism is reduced when individuals with substance abuse and mental health disorders have insurance so they can access necessary treatment. Providing access to health care is imperative in Catholic social teaching, and SB 164 is the bill most likely to offer coverage to the greatest number of low-income and vulnerable individuals.