House OKs Bill Against Physician-Assisted Suicide

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation forbidding the use of federal dollars to pay for physician-assisted suicide, a largely symbolic action since no government money is used for that purpose.

But backers of the bill, saying they feared court decisions may make doctor-assisted suicide legal, said that the legislation is needed to deflect any future attempts to use funds from Medicaid, Medicare or any other federal assistance programs to pay for the practice.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule this year on the constitutionality of laws in 42 states that ban assisted suicide. The bill’s supporters said that it is critical for Congress to act before the high court releases its decision. But the legislation stipulates that, regardless of the judicial outcome, no federal funds will be used for the practice.

The courts “get the last guess as to what the law is,” said Rep. Ralph M. Hall (D-Texas), chief sponsor of the measure. “If they guess wrong on this, you can open up the Treasury to every Dr. Kevorkian all across this country,” he said. He was referring to Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan physician who has assisted at least 45 suicides since 1990.

The White House issued a statement saying President Clinton “has made it clear that he does not support assisted suicides” and would not oppose the bill because it reaffirms current federal policy.

For the measure to become law, the Senate also would have to approve it but no comparable legislation has been introduced there.

The lopsided 398-16 House vote was a reflection of the lawmakers’ almost universal disapproval of the procedure.

But a handful of members--some of whom ultimately voted for the bill anyway--complained that the measure was meaningless and did little to address the conditions that drive seriously ill people to consider ending their lives.

Instead of banning the use of federal money for physician-assisted suicide, Congress should beef up programs that provide greater access to mental health services or anti-pain treatments to “help those people in the last days of their lives,” said Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who led critics of the bill.

The measure provides for research into pain treatment and suicide prevention and requires a federal study of how health care professionals are trained to deal with end-of-life issues. But critics said that it does not go far enough.

“In short, this bill essentially prohibits nothing,” said Brown, who voted for the bill in the end. “It is typical of the last two Republican Congresses, legislating a solution in search of a problem.”

Medical ethicist Art Caplan, who as director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania has studied the issue, said that the measure would have little practical impact because “the costs of assisted suicide are minimal.”