A group of Christian doctors has sued the state of California over being forced to participate in physician-assisted suicide. One of the doctors said a newly amended law is a political agenda that goes strongly against his faith and will lead to all sorts of problems for patients.
“I believe this is a political agenda, and it shouldn’t be crossing over and becoming an issue that’s interfering with doctor-patient relationships,” Dr. Leslee Cochrane told NTD’s “The Nation Speaks” in a March 5 interview. “And not to mention the frail, the sick, and the elderly, and how vulnerable that group of patients are. I think this is a tremendous disservice.”
On Feb. 22, Cochrane and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations filed a lawsuit (pdf) in a federal court against the California Attorney General, Public Health Officer, and the Medical Board of California, seeking to prevent SB 380 from coming into force and claiming it infringes on physicians’ First and Fourteenth Amendments rights.
SB 380 is a bill amending the End of Life Option Act, a 2015 law that legalized assisted suicide. On Oct. 5, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 380 into law and it became effective on Jan. 1, 2022.
“The American Medical Association rightly identified that doctors participating in assisted suicide is fundamentally in direct opposition to their role as healers and it would be difficult to regulate and control. And I just see this as going to lead to all sorts of problems for patients,” said Cochrane.
Read More: Forcing Doctors to Assist Suicide ‘A Political Agenda’: Doctor
