Disability-rights advocates and pro-life supporters gathered at the Massachusetts State House on June 11 for a peaceful demonstration opposing physician-assisted suicide legislation currently under consideration on Beacon Hill.

The event, organized by advocates including Second Thoughts Massachusetts, coincided with an advocacy day hosted by supporters of assisted-suicide legislation. Participants wore purple to show solidarity with individuals whose lives they believe would be endangered by the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.

According to the Patients' Rights Action Fund, advocates gathered in Boston to defend the rights of people with disabilities and to oppose policies they say could pressure vulnerable individuals toward death rather than care. The organization emphasized its message that “suicide is not medical treatment.”

For more than two decades, MCFL has worked to defeat efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide in the Commonwealth through legislative advocacy, public education, and grassroots action.

MCFL is currently urging supporters to contact their legislators in opposition to S.1486 and H.2505, known as the End-of-Life Options bills. Similar legislation has been introduced repeatedly in Massachusetts over the years, including a 2012 ballot question that was narrowly rejected by voters.