This republished article first appeared in the National Review.

Assisted suicide is not discussed much at the federal level. But at a recent Senate committee hearing, Senator James Lankford (R., Okla.) asked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about his thoughts on assisted suicide. Kennedy was unequivocal (starting at minute 3:30):

Langford: I want to switch to an issue we have not had a lot of time to talk about and that is assisted suicide. We now have three states, California, Colorado, and Vermont that disability groups are filing against some of the assisted suicide laws because it seems to target those with disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990, that act has worked to protect those with disabilities, not incentivize them to take their own life. And so, this is an ongoing conversation on this and I think my question for you today . . . what is HHS doing to protect those with disabilities that may be targeted by those assisted suicide laws?

Kennedy: To me, I think those laws are abhorrent. And we just see in Canada today, I think the number one cause of death is assisted suicide, and as you say, it targets people with disabilities and people who are struggling in their lives. And I don’t think we can be a moral society, we can’t be a moral society around the globe if that becomes institutionalized throughout our society. So, I am happy to work with you in whatever way we can.

Kennedy is mistaken about euthanasia being the number one cause of death in Canada. It is the fifth, with some 16,000 people being killed by doctors — and rising — each year.

But he is absolutely correct about the rest. Indeed, we can’t “be a moral society around the globe” if assisted suicide/euthanasia “becomes institutionalized throughout our society.”

Why? Legalizing hastened death devalues intrinsic human dignity (by creating killable castes of people), undermines equality (some suicides will be prevented, others facilitated), while offering utilitarian rewards (organ harvesting, saving health care resources, etc.) to states that allow doctors to facilitate the suicides of — or lethally jab — people who are sick, disabled, elderly, and/or mentally ill.

Good for Lankford for raising the issue and Kennedy for denigrating legalized assisted suicide for what it is: “Abhorrent.”