Delegate Pat McGeehan (R) has introduced Resolution 74, or "Defending Life by Rejecting Euthanasia," and Joint Resolution 28, to make doctor-assisted suicide, or euthanasia, illegal in the state.
"Euthanasia contributes to really a cultivation of degradation of the dignity of life," he says. "It can dramatically shift our collective moral compass and transition our society that cherishes life in all its stages from conception to its natural end to one that deems life that's only conditionally valuable."
The resolutions have already been overwhelmingly approved by the lower chamber of the legislature.
"Should it pass the Senate, next it will go on the ballot this year," the delegate explains. "If the voters approve the prohibition, it would then go into the state Constitution. And I believe West Virginia, if that happens, would be the first state to constitutionally prohibit medically-assisted suicide."
Passage by voters would also protect the most vulnerable in society, the elderly and the handicapped, from being pressured into submitting to doctor-assisted suicide.
