Literature Review

The aid-in-dying questionThe Washington Post, by Matt Valliere; 1/31/24... As medical aid in dying is becoming legal in more states in this country, the terms “euthanasia” and “assisted suicide” are inaccurate, each in its own way. Where medical aid in dying, or MAID, is legal in the United States, the medication must be self-administered, whereas euthanasia involves a physician or other person being the agent of death. The term “suicide” and, hence, assisted suicide, should refer to a situation where the individual is not facing a terminal prognosis. Aid in dying is what it says: It is helping someone who is already dying and has no hope of recovery.

Medical aid in dying waiting period would shorten from 15 days to 48 hours under Colorado billThe Denver Post, by Meg Wingerter; 1/28/24A bill (SB 24-068) in the Colorado legislature would shorten the mandatory waiting period for medical aid in dying from more than two weeks to two days, opening the option to more critically ill people, but raising concerns for some about rushed decisions. It would also allow people who aren’t Colorado residents to end their lives under the state’s law, and let advanced practice registered nurses prescribe the drug cocktail.Publisher's note: The Denver Post is the source article. If you run into a paywall, the Greeley Tribune is running the same story without a paywall. A similar story is running in the Colorado Sun without a paywall.

Minnesota lawmakers kick off debate on joining other states that permit physician-assisted suicideThe Associated Press, by Steve Karnowski; 1/25/24The Minnesota Legislature kicked off debate Thursday on whether the state should join the list of those that allow physician-assisted suicide.

NY Catholics asked to oppose physician-assisted suicideCatholic Courier, by Jennifer Burke; 1/22/24New York’s Catholics are again being asked to express their opposition to physician-assisted suicide. The state’s lawmakers are once again considering legislation that would allow doctors to prescribe doses of lethal medications to terminally ill patients. 

Virginia legislators seek to become 12th jurisdiction to legalize medical aid in dying Courthouse News Service, by Joe Dodson; 1/22/24Virginia state Senator Jennifer Boysko held back tears and read a letter written by her friend U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton, who suffers from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), in support of medically assisted death. 

My husband's death in hospice care made me more opposed to assisted suicide, says Nadine DorriesThe Telegraph, by Dominic Penna; 1/10/24Paul Dorries, who died of bowel cancer in June 2019, asked to travel to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end his life as soon as he received his terminal diagnosis, the former culture secretary [Nadine Dorries] said. But setting out her opposition to the “distressing” practice of assisted suicide, Ms Dorries said her husband had eventually been glad to spend his final weeks in palliative care surrounded by loved ones. ... "The peaceful way he died at home four months later – surrounded by his loving family – only reinforced my strong view that assisted dying is wrong.”

Terminally ill Connecticut woman ends her life on her own terms, in VermontAP US News, by Lisa Rathke; 1/4/24A Connecticut woman who pushed for expanded access to Vermont’s law that allows people who are terminally ill to receive lethal medication to end their lives died in Vermont on Thursday.

Push for end-of-life bill will continue in 2024

More than 200 terminally ill Vermonters qualified for the state’s aid-in-dying law in its first decadeVT Digger, 12/28/23Over 200 terminally ill patients have sought and qualified to receive life-ending drugs since Vermont first legalized medical-aid-in-dying more than a decade ago, according to a recent report from the Vermont Department of Health. Vermont first legalized the practice—sometimes referred to as “death with dignity” by supporters or “assisted suicide” by opponents—in May 2013. From then until the end of June 2023, 203 Vermonters sought and qualified for the medication, according to the report. Not all of those who had access to the drugs obtained or used them, according to the Department of Health. Some died from the underlying disease. ... A vast majority of those who utilized the program had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, according to the report.

Death by Doctor May Soon Be Available for the Mentally Ill in CanadaNew York TimesDecember 27, 2023Canada already has one of the most liberal assisted death laws in the world, offering the practice to terminally and chronically ill Canadians. But under a law scheduled to take effect in March assisted dying would also become accessible to people whose only medical condition is mental illness, making Canada one of about half a dozen countries to permit the procedure for that category of people. That move has divided Canadians, some of whom view it as a sign that the country’s public health care system is not offering adequate psychiatric care, which is notoriously underfunded and in high demand. 

Third of patients given lethal drugs under right-to-die laws ‘do not take them’The Telegraph (England), 12/23/23More than a third of suicidal patients who are prescribed lethal drugs under right-to-die laws do not take them, data show. Just 1,905 of the 2,895 people prescribed assisted dying pills in Oregon, US, between 1998 and 2021 took them, according to the state’s public health data. The figures are mirrored in the neighbouring state of California, where in 2021, 286 of the 772 people prescribed a fatal dose ultimately decided against using it. Even in Canada, where medically-assisted deaths are the most pervasive and accepted in the world, around 13,000 people of the 15,500 with lethal drug prescriptions in 2022 used them—and around 300 people changed their mind. Experts consider the Oregon model, whereby a doctor specialising in end-of-life care prescribes a deadly drug to be taken at home by a patient, as the best option for Britain, should MPs vote for a change in the law.

Assisted dying Scotland—Sir Keir Starmer backs call for change in law as Dame Esther Rantzen champions moveThe Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland), 12/22/23Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has backed calls for a change in the law on assisted dying. The cause has been championed by Dame Esther Rantzen, who has called for politicians to grapple with the issue for the first time since 2015. The 83-year-old Childline founder and broadcaster has stage four lung cancer and earlier this week said she has joined the assisted dying clinic Dignitas. The Labour leader, who backed a change in the law the last time the issue was voted on in the Commons in 2015, acknowledged it would have to be addressed carefully.

A plea before dying—on behalf of those who might need itBy Burt RiskedahlTwin Cities Pioneer PressDecember 19, 2023I am so grateful for many of the important legislative bills approved in the 2023 session of the Minnesota Legislature, particularly those that protect reproductive health rights, ensure LGBTQ access to needed care and treatment, and provide significant funding for increased access to education. ... Regretfully, the Legislature failed to enact another important measure, the Minnesota End-of-Life Options Act, that would have also provided important rights to people.