IFA received two urgent messages this week from leaders in states that are considering legalizing assisted suicide.
Proponents call these euthanasia laws Medical Aid in Dying. Along with the District of Columbia, 10 states already allow euthanasia: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
Intercessors from Nevada and Illinois are asking for urgent prayer to defeat bills in those two states.
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We point to Connecticut, where a bipartisan approach has defeated assisted-suicide bills for 11 years in a row. The latest bill, called Aid in Dying, was defeated in committee. We can learn much from legislators on both sides of the aisle with regard to this bill. CTnewsjunkie.com reports:
“I do not want to put another thing in a lap of someone that is facing life’s difficulties and saying, ‘You also have the option to kill yourself’,” Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said. “I don’t want anyone to have that option, legally, because I think that is a small step from going down the road to now you’re going to be encouraged, if not overtly, implicitly.”
There were concerns about the proposal on both sides of the aisle.
Rep. Steve Stafstrom, a Bridgeport Democrat who co-chairs the committee, spoke of his own father’s terminal cancer diagnosis and the difficult decisions it has brought. He pushed back on characterizations that opposition to the bill stemmed largely from the religious affiliation of legislators.
Instead, Stafstrom said his concerns about the proposal grew throughout this session due to court battles in other states, where lawsuits have sought to scrap safeguards similar to those contemplated under the bill.
“There are still some outstanding issues and we are right to be cautious on it,” Stafstrom said.
In California, a lawsuit brought by a number of parties — The United Spinal Association; Not Dead Yet; Institute for Patients’ Rights; Communities Actively Living Independent and Free; Lonnie VanHook; and Ingrid Tischer — is challenging the state assisted-suicide law.
We thank God for the victory in Connecticut and the legal challenge in California. Urgent prayer is now needed for bills to be stopped in Illinois and Nevada, and perhaps in other states (please post in the comments).
Donna in Nevada wrote to IFA:
The proponents always say it is only to allow people with terminal illnesses in a lot of pain to end their own suffering, but, in places where it has passed it goes much further than that. What has happened in those places is proponents will then bully elderly and disabled people into taking the pill because they don’t have sufficient quality of life, they are a drain on society, and a burden to others. Canada is given as an example where this has happened, but, in reality, as I have been told by a friend, who has relatives in Canada, they have now begun to euthanize some elderly people in nursing homes, because they are a drain on the socialized health care system there. They will lie to them and say they are giving them their pain pill and give them the suicide pill instead.
Tatiana Rafert and Maria Slattery, IFA’s Illinois state prayer leaders, sent us this alert:
With less than two weeks left in the 2023 legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly is considering a request by out-of-state groups to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Illinois. Proponents have not shared the bill language, nor have they had any public hearings on such a radical proposal, but efforts are underway right now to rush a measure through the legislative process and to the Governor for a signature.
What are the roots of this demonic push to end life before God does? Consider what the sponsor of the Connecticut bill has said:
“This person, who I never would have thought would think this, said to me one time she wished she could die and she meant on her own terms,” he said. “That’s not how it happened. She died in a way I know she didn’t want to die and I certainly didn’t want to see her die like that. So this became an issue that was important to me and it hurts not to be able to get to a point where we can vote on this bill.”
Death is the last chance for every human to choose an eternal destination. Our times are in God’s hands, but that makes us very uncomfortable. We cannot control death. In God’s infinite wisdom, we cannot control when we die or how we die. And the uncertainty and fear of death have become the means of salvation for many humans in history. Suicide robs a person of that opportunity. Satan seeks to steal, kill, and destroy — and to prematurely end life — while Jesus gives life and that more abundantly, even when we are suffering.
Medically assisted suicide is also demonic in that it devalues the elderly, the disabled, and the mentally ill. In an increasingly self-centered society, imagine the subtle and not-so-subtle pressures someone may feel to prematurely end life, especially if anyone is dependent on others for care. Laws that endorse artificial means to end the lives of those who are suffering and/or are physically or mentally disabled essentially pronounce that these lives are not useful or worth living. This is a lie! Our laws should never affirm such a lie.
Interestingly, just this week IFA received a message from an intercessor concerned about a murderous spirit operating in America. Although she did not name assisted suicide, that could certainly be added to her list. Here’s what she wrote:
Of all the things we are praying for
(I’ve been a serious intercessor since the early 80s)
Why is no one getting people to pray against a “ murderous spirit “ that entered our territory, disguised as many things, but in reality, it’s only one thing. It’s not the shooters. It’s not the war spirits. … It’s one thing a murderous spirit seems to have gone out all over this land, whether it be in abortions, whether it be in war, whether it be the children being killed and people gunned down in public places or neighborhoods. It’s all the same.
Why are we not praying spiritually and specifically to remove that spirit worldwide?
It’s destroying us as a nation and across borders and between countries.
We need to renounce this spirit on our territory and in the name of the Almighty one.
Ask and go forth and put these murderous spirits in their own cages. In Jesus’ name!
Rise up as warriors of our God to defeat this hindering spirit acting out on mankind.
Unite and claim this, suited up as warriors of Jesus Christ.
Thanks for listening.
A sister in Christ
In the IFA archives, we found this pertinent teaching by Derek Prince:
[I]n order for our prayers to be effective, they must be in accord with God’s unchanging spiritual laws. I believe the first requirement for effective praying is that we repent collectively for the sinfulness of our nation. I believe the great basic spiritual problem of America is a spirit of rebelliousness. And I believe that this problem leads to two related problems, one in the realm of action, the other in the spiritual realm. In the realm of action, rebelliousness manifests itself in violence, and we’ve seen an ever increasing crescendo of violence on the American scene. In the spiritual realm, rebelliousness is always related to witchcraft. 1 Samuel 15:23 tells us that “rebellion is witchcraft.” In other words, they are closely interrelated. And so, as another result of the rebellious condition of the American people, there is the tremendous increase that we have witnessed in witchcraft, in the satanic supernatural. Therefore, in order for our prayers to be effective, we have to repent on behalf of our nation for this root problem of rebelliousness, violence and witchcraft.
As we come to God on the basis of repentance and humility for these national sins, then we have the right to intercede and to intervene into the spiritual realm and to bind and cast down the satanic spiritual powers that are at work against the well being and the prosperity of the American people.
Do you see a murderous spirit at work in this? In our culture? What do you think is driving the assisted suicide movement?
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
How are you led to pray about this death culture? Share your prayers and comments below.
Please download IFA’s latest prayer guide: Prayer Guide Against Assisted Suicide Laws. It is full of powerful prayers and applicable scriptures.
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