Virginia Catholic bishops thank state lawmakers for rejecting assisted suicide bills

Virginia’s Catholic bishops thanked state lawmakers who rejected bills that would have legalized physician assisted suicide in the commonwealth for patients who are terminally ill.

“We greatly appreciate all those who contacted their legislators to express their concerns, and we would like especially to thank those senators and delegates who advocated for vulnerable and underserved Virginians and their families,” Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout and Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge said in a joint statement.

Democratic lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate introduced bills that would have legalized the practice. Both efforts stalled in committee.

The Senate Education and Health Committee voted 8-7 to reject a measure on Feb. 5. All Senate supporters were Democrats, and two Democrats joined the Republican minority to vote against the bill and ensure its rejection. The House Courts of Justice Committee tabled the bill until 2027 with a Feb. 11 voice vote, ensuring it did not advance in this session.

“We are grateful that committees in both chambers decided not to proceed with this legislation after weighing the grave concerns expressed by so many people throughout our commonwealth,” the bishops said.

“Many legislators on both sides of the aisle recognized the serious risks this measure would have imposed upon vulnerable Virginians — including people with disabilities, people with mental illnesses, the elderly, and those who lack access to health care,” they said.

Knestout and Burbidge added: “Human life is sacred and no one should ever be abandoned or discarded.”

“Every suicide results in a tragic loss that can place families, friends, co-workers, and whole communities in long-term grief,” they said. “Virginia should always seek to prevent suicide and never engage in or promote suicide.”

The practice of physician-assisted suicide has been expanding in the United States in recent years and is now legal in 13 states and the District of Columbia. New York is the latest state to legalize the practice, and that law will go into effect in August. Two states — Delaware and Illinois — legalized it in 2025.

Oregon was the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide in a 1994 ballot measure. The second was Washington in 2008 via referendum, and the third was Montana in 2009 via a state Supreme Court ruling. Six states and the District of Columbia legalized it in the 2010s, and four states legalized it in the 2020s.

Supporters often cite personal autonomy to justify the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, but opponents, such as the Catholic Church, express concerns about the sanctity of human life and patients potentially being pressured to end their own lives. Many worry that legalizing it for terminally ill patients is just a first step, and it could expand to patients in other situations.

Lawmakers in Canada enacted a physician-assisted suicide program through legislation in 2015 called medical aid in dying (MAID). Although this first only applied to people who are terminally ill, the country expanded it in 2021 to include those who are chronically ill but not terminal. MAID in Canada is scheduled to expand again in 2027 to offer eligibility to those whose only condition is mental illness.