Senate Votes to Deny Funds for Suicides

The Senate completed congressional action Wednesday on a bill to preemptively bar the federal government from financing physician-assisted suicides.

The bill passed, 99-0. The same measure cleared the House last week by a 398-16 vote. President Clinton is expected to sign it.

Federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid are already prohibited from funding assisted suicide, which is against state laws throughout the country. But sponsors said it was necessary to act before the Supreme Court rules on several challenges to laws against assisted suicide.

Federal courts are also studying a 1994 referendum in which Oregon voters approved doctor-assisted suicide.

The legislation focuses on federal funding--not whether it is legal to assist a suicide. It also does not affect the practice of withdrawing medical treatment or providing pain killers to the terminally ill.

The measure was motivated by concern that assisted suicide is becoming more acceptable in the country, particularly with the publicity given Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who has helped dozens of people end their lives.

“We want to send a signal to Dr. Kevorkian that we don’t agree with him,” said Senate Assistant Majority Leader Don Nickles (R-Okla.).

“We should not hook up Dr. Kevorkian to the United States Treasury,” said Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.), a chief sponsor of the bill.

The measure authorizes the secretary of Health and Human Services to fund research into pain treatment and suicide prevention and requires a federal study of how health care professionals are trained in end-of-life care.