states (AL, MA, VT, and WV) and the District of Columbia prohibit assisted suicide by common law
4
states (NV, NC, UT, and WY) have no specific laws regarding assisted suicide, may not recognize common law, or are otherwise unclear on the legality of assisted suicide.
0
Federal Laws on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide The federal government and all 50 states and the District of Columbia prohibit euthanasia under general homicide laws. The federal government does not have assisted suicide laws, and those laws are generally handled at the state level.
I. Three States with Legal Physician-Assisted Suicide
The plaintiffs (four Montana physicians, Compassion and Choices, and Robert Baxter, a 76 year old truck driver from Billings dying of lymphocytic leukemia) asked the court to establish a constitutional right "to receive and provide aid in dying."
Judge Dorothy McCarter ruled that a terminally ill, competent patient has a legal right to die with dignity under Article II, Sections 4 and 10 of the Montana Constitution. That includes a right to "use the assistance of his physician to obtain a prescription for a lethal dose of medication that the patient may take on his own if and when he decides to terminate his life." It further held that the right protects physicians who aid such patients by prescribing a lethal drug for the patient.
The Attorney General of Montana appealed the ruling of Judge McCarter to the Montana Supreme Court. The Court found that "we find no indication in Montana law that physician aid in dying provided to terminally ill, mentally competent adult patients is against public policy" and therefore, the physician who assists is shielded from criminal liability by the patient’s consent.
On Feb. 17, 2011, the Montana legislature tabled two proposed physician-assisted suicide bills. According to the Billings Gazette, "one would have banned the practice altogether (LC0041 - Republican Senator Greg Hinkle), while the other (LC0177 - Democratic Senator Dick Barrett) would have required a doctor to diagnose a patient as being terminally ill and the patient to make voluntary oral and written requests for a lethal prescription of medication. The request would have had to be signed by two witnesses and the patient also would have had to get a second doctor's opinion."
Death With Dignity National Center, on its website at deathwithdignity.org, explains that "existing Montana state law provides immunity for physicians for withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment for a terminally-ill patient," but "does not specifically address physician-assisted suicide."
"An adult who is capable, is a resident of Oregon, and has been determined by the attending physician and consulting physician to be suffering from a terminal disease, and who has voluntarily expressed his or her wish to die, may make a written request for medication for the purpose of ending his or her life in a humane and dignified manner.”
Decided: Jan. 17, 2006 (6-3 in favor of the State of Oregon)
According to the court's majority opinion, the Controlled Substances Act does not empower the Attorney General of the United States to prohibit doctors from prescribing regulated drugs for use in physician-assisted suicide under state law permitting the procedure. The court's ruling upheld the Death With Dignity Act.
Capable of making and communicating health care decisions for him/herself
Diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months
Physician protocol:
The attending physician must be licensed in the same state as the patient.
The physician's diagnosis must include a terminal illness, with six months or less to live.
The diagnosis must be certified by a consulting physician, who must also certify that the patient is mentally competent to make and communicate health care decisions.
If either physician determines that the patient's judgment is impaired, the patient must be referred for a psychological examination.
The attending physician must inform the patient of alternatives, including palliative care, hospice and pain management options.
The attending physician must request that the patient notify their next-of-kin of the prescription request.
Patient request timeline:
First oral request to physician
15 day waiting period
Second oral request to physician
Written request to physician
48 hour waiting period before picking up prescribed medications.
Pick up prescribed medications from the pharmacy
Other:
Use of the law cannot affect the status of a patient's health or life insurance policies.
The Department of Human Services - Health Services enforces compliance with the law. Compliance requires physicians to report all prescriptions to the state. Physicians and patients who comply with the law are protected from criminal prosecution.
Physicians and health care systems are not obligated to participate.
"An adult who is competent, is a resident of Washington state, and has been determined by the attending physician and consulting physician to be suffering from a terminal disease, and who has voluntarily expressed his or her wish to die, may make a written request for medication that the patient may self-administer to end his or her life in a humane and dignified manner..."
Capable of making and communicating health care decisions for him/herself
Diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months
Physician protocol:
The attending physician must be licensed in the same state as the patient.
The physician's diagnosis must include a terminal illness, with six months or less to live.
The diagnosis must be certified by a consulting physician, who must also certify that the patient is mentally competent to make and communicate health care decisions.
If either physician determines that the patient's judgment is impaired, the patient must be referred for a psychological examination.
The attending physician must inform the patient of alternatives, including palliative care, hospice and pain management options.
The attending physician must request that the patient notify their next-of-kin of the prescription request.
Patient request timeline:
First oral request to physician
15 day waiting period
Second oral request to physician
Written request to physician
48 hour waiting period before picking up prescribed medications.
Pick up prescribed medications from the pharmacy
Other:
Use of the law cannot affect the status of a patient's health or life insurance policies.
The Department of Health enforces compliance with the law. Compliance requires physicians to report all prescriptions to the state. Physicians and patients who comply with the law are protected from criminal prosecution.
Physicians and health care systems are not obligated to participate.
II. 47 States and DC Where Assisted Suicide Is Illegal
Up to 15 years in prison and/or a fine up to $30,000 if suicide results; up to seven years in prison and/or a fine up to $14,000 if attempted suicide results.
