Our state House passed an assisted suicide bill, which I oppose.

The teaching of our church is clear: Assisted suicide is a sin and Catholics should oppose it. Catholic legislators who don’t oppose this bill create scandal (catechism 2282) and set a poor example for young people.

Jesus asked, “What good does it do a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul in the process?”

As a caregiver for my own bedridden, elderly mother on hospice, I know about end-of-life challenges. Both patient and caregiver can suffer. But ending one’s life is not the solution. Instead, we believe in redemptive suffering, which can attain great benefits for souls.

Assisted suicide supporters should consider what could await them in the afterlife. St. Faustina, a Polish nun, described visions of heaven, hell and purgatory in her diary. She saw many people walking along a sandy road with flowers and music, enjoying themselves. At the end of the path was a cliff where people fell off into the abyss of hell.

Our choices in this life will have consequences in the next. Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, pick up your cross and follow Me.” Those who do will experience the glory of heaven.

Melissa B. Prince

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