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2020 – Supporting ‘Death with Dignity’

02 Aug 2020
Emily
Resolutions

Proposed by the Northern Virginia Ethical Society, amended and passed by the 105th AEU Assembly in August 2020

Whereas the American Ethical Union and the Humanist Association were founded on the principles of the dignity and worth of each person, reverence for life, and freedom of belief among others.

A resolution was passed by the AEU in 2003 in support of decriminalization of the furnishing of a prescription for a lethal dose of drugs by a physician to an adult patient with full decision-making capacity.

Whereas nine states and the District of Columbia support Death with Dignity by allowing terminally ill patients to have control over their end of life. These states include Oregon (26 years), Montana (10 years); Washington (11 years), Vermont (7 years), California and Colorado (4 years), Washington DC (2 years) and New Jersey, Hawaii, and Maine (1 year).

Whereas the currently accepted definition of terminal illness is generally that the person is afflicted with an illness, condition, or disease that has no cure and will imminently lead to death.

Therefore Be it Resolved that The American Ethical Union urges its member societies and affiliates and their members to take action in support of Death with Dignity legislation in each state when appropriate. Such legislation would allow terminally ill, mentally competent adult state residents legally to obtain a prescription for medications to end their life peacefully, in a dignified way, at the place and time of their choosing. Such legislation would permit qualified terminally ill patients to choose to end needless suffering by advancing the time of their approaching death. It would also provide peace of mind for many residents in having access to the option of aid in dying, even if they do not exercise that option. Such legislation should include protection for physicians who supply such prescriptions.

Recommended actions, both for individuals and for member Societies and affiliated organizations, include contacting elected representatives in their state legislatures asking that they support such legislation; joining an action network, such as Compassion and Choices; and signing a pledge to support such legislation.

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All Society Platform Featuring Congressman Jamie Raskin

28 Mar 2021 | 11:00 am

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Congressman Jamie Raskin Salutes Long Walk for Freedom

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Congressman Jamie Raskin shared words of support for the Sindhi Foundation's Long Walk for Freedom, Nature, and Love today.

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www.mymcmedia.org/raskin-trone-urge-hogan-to-open-mass-vaccination-site-in-montgomery-county/ ... See MoreSee Less

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U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md. 8) and David Trone (D-Md. 6) have written a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan and Maryland’s Acting Secretary of Health Dennis Schrader urging that the state open a mass vaccination site in Montgomery County. “[D]espite Montgomery suffering the worst casualty rate in Mary...

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In honor of Women's History Month, the AEU highlights the work of Sandra Faber!An astronomer at the University of California-Santa Cruz, Sandra Faber has made innumerable contributions to our understanding of the beginnings of our universe, the formation of galaxies, and the origins of our planet. In 2013, President Obama recognized her notable achievements with the National Medal of Science. She is also a publicly declared atheist who finds meaning not in religious doctrine or deities but in the beauty of the natural laws of science. In an interview with PBS, Faber stated that there are only two possible explanations for the origin of the universe: “One is that there is a God and that God made it that way. The only other approach…is to argue that there really is an infinite, or a very big, ensemble of universes out there and we are in one.” In the interview Faber asserted her preference for the latter materialistic explanation rather than theistic faith in a creator, adding, “I take comfort in the fact that it is a beautiful universe, and we belong here and that we fit. This is our home.”#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM #WomenInSTEM #WomenHumanists #WomensHistoryMonth2021 ... See MoreSee Less

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On February 25 a group of U.S. House Democrats including Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), reintroduced the Do No Harm Act, a bill to ensure that religious freedom is not used as a justification for discriminating against LGBTQ people, religious minorities, and others. ... See MoreSee Less

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The Do No Harm Act will return the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to its original purpose of protecting the free exercise of religion, especially for religious minorities, while making it clear that the legislation should never be used to exempt anyone from laws that protect other people’s basi...

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In honor of Women's History Month, the AEU highlig In honor of Women's History Month, the AEU highlights the work of Sandra Faber!
An astronomer at the University of California-Santa Cruz, Sandra Faber has made innumerable contributions to our understanding of the beginnings of our universe, the formation of galaxies, and the origins of our planet. In 2013, President Obama recognized her notable achievements with the National Medal of Science. She is also a publicly declared atheist who finds meaning not in religious doctrine or deities but in the beauty of the natural laws of science. 
In an interview with PBS, Faber stated that there are only two possible explanations for the origin of the universe: “One is that there is a God and that God made it that way. The only other approach…is to argue that there really is an infinite, or a very big, ensemble of universes out there and we are in one.” In the interview Faber asserted her preference for the latter materialistic explanation rather than theistic faith in a creator, adding, “I take comfort in the fact that it is a beautiful universe, and we belong here and that we fit. This is our home.”

#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM #WomenInSTEM #WomenHumanists #WomensHistoryMonth2021
On this final day of Black History Month, we honor On this final day of Black History Month, we honor Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), a Black playwright and journalist.

Hansberry’s partly autobiographical play “A Raisin in the Sun,” shocked Broadway audiences when a Black character declared, “God is just one idea I don’t accept. ... It’s just that I get so tired of him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. There simply is no God! There is only man, and it’s he who makes miracles!” She worked with W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Robeson on an African-American progressive newspaper, until her life was tragically cut short at age 34 by cancer.

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #BlackNonBelievers #BlackHumanism
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