The very bad news: California has legalized assisted suicide.

The somewhat good news: An increasing number of California hospitals are opting out.

That includes Palm Springs area hospitals, all of them. From the Desert Sun story:

Eisenhower Medical Center issued a policy saying the Rancho Mirage hospital was “declining to participate in all activities” related to the new law.

A spokesman for Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs said Desert Regional and JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio are also opting out. Both hospitals are run by Tenet Healthcare.

“After careful consideration, we have determined that aid-in-dying medication will not be ordered or administered at Desert Regional Medical Center or JFK Memorial Hospital,” Rich Ramhoff with Desert Regional said in an email Thursday. “Physicians and staff who receive a patient request regarding the End-of-Life Option Act may assist the patient in finding a participating physician or facility.”

The position applies to all Tenet’s hospitals throughout California, including the Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree.

Excellent.

Meanwhile several health care facilities in Santa Barbara have decided not to directly participate in assisted suicide. From the NoozHawk story:

Santa Barbara County hospitals plan to support patients seeking information on California’s End of Life Option Act, but their physicians will not write prescriptions to terminally ill patients who want to end their lives.

That sends the important message that killing isn’t medicine. More of this please.

Photo: Downtown Palm Springs, by Patrick Pelster (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Cross-posted at Human Exceptionalism.