Christine Rousselle’s Catholic News Agency article about a push for assisted suicide in Massachusetts brings out an important element in the debate.  Support for the policy tends to come from the progressive-elite end of the spectrum, while disadvantaged and disabled groups tend to see it as a threat (rightly, I’d say).

The implicit rationale is that the advantaged think life would not be worth living if they faced challenges or lost (what they perceive as) total control of their lives, which they can’t help but apply, on some level, to people who live with those challenges already.  “I’d rather die” can too easily transform into “by what right do they live.”