INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers passed a resolution Monday that sends a firm message that they oppose and condemn assisted suicide.
State Sen. Dr. Tyler Johnson, R-District 14, who is an emergency room physician, wrote the resolution.
It comes as other states around the country are considering what some call "death with dignity" laws.
Monday, the Indiana Senate approved a resolution along party lines that condemns the practice of assisted suicide.
Under current Indiana law, assisted suicide is already banned in the state, whether by a doctor or anyone who would help someone take their own life.
That’s not the case is some states like Oregon that allow terminally ill people to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications.
According to Death with Dignity, which supports end-of-life advocacy and policy reform, more than 10 other states are considering "death with dignity acts" this legislative session.
Monday afternoon, the Indiana Senate passed a resolution saying Indiana will not be one of them, but not before some debate.
"For us in this body to make a decision considering assisted suicide for everybody else in this world, starting with the state of Indiana. Who us? I am not God, and I don’t intend to play God," said State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-District 2, who said he was against the resolution and wanted to see it more narrowly focused to cover physician-assisted suicide, rather than just assisted suicide, as the resolution was written.
"Physician assisted suicide is contrary to a physician’s duty as a healer and undermines the physician patient relationship. It is not difficult to stand here today and draw a line in the sand. Please stand with me and condemn physician assisted suicide," Johnson asked his colleagues in the Indiana Senate before the resolution passed by a vote of 39-9.
State Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-District 40, argued the General Assembly should hold public hearings to hear what Hoosiers think on the topic.
Assisted suicide also came up in House Bill 1011, authored by Rep. Matt Pierce, D-District 61. HB1011 would have allowed a terminally ill patient to voluntarily end their lives. The bill never got a committee hearing.