Week 6/2015 in the Death with Dignity Movement

In the week from February 1 to February 7, 2015, the whirlwind of media attention to Death with Dignity continued:

• If you only read one article, make sure it’s this overview of Death with Dignity developments written in response to the New York lawsuit (see below): “More states consider assisted-suicide laws since Brittany Maynard’s death,” The Christian Science Monitor, 2/4/2015.
• For a good overview of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that Canadian adults who are mentally competent and suffering intolerably and permanently have the right to a doctor’s help in dying, read this Globe and Mail article. And, TIME magazine has an analysis, including our take, of the impact of SCC’s ruling in the U.S.)
• The buzz around California’s End of Life Option Act continues unabated.
• Following the introduction of a bill the previous week, a lively debate unfolded in Colorado before a House Committee heard and rejected the bill on Friday. Sixty-eight percent of Coloradans continue to favor Death with Dignity. To follow the Committee hearings as they unfolded on Friday, February 6 (and as they will continue in the future, if applicable), see the Twitter hashtag #coleg.
• The D.C. Council debates a death-with-dignity bill introduced mid-January by Councilmember Cheh, while Maryland awaits the introduction of companion death-with-dignity bills in the Assembly and Senate.
• Whereas physician-assisted dying isn’t illegal in Montana by Supreme Court ruling, two bills are circulating in the State Legislature: a Senate bill legalizing death with dignity and a House bill criminalizing physicians’ participation in assisted suicide. Media coverage has been mostly relegated to letters to the editor.
• New Mexico is watching out for an appeals court ruling on the legality of physicians’ right to aid patients in hastening their deaths.
• In New York, while two Senators prepare to introduce a bill, a group of patients and physicians filed a lawsuit challenging New York’s statute banning assisted suicide.

California

• “‘Choices are fine, if they’re your choices’,” The Record, 1/31/2015
• “‘Death With Dignity’ Debate Returns to Sacramento,” NBC Bay Area, 2/2/2015
• “Dying with dignity: A patient’s choice,” The Orion, 2/3/2015
• “Readers React: Don’t call death with dignity ‘suicide’,” LA Times, 2/4/2015

Colorado

• “Debate on death with dignity begins to churn in Colorado,” Denver Post, 2/1/2015
• “Death with Dignity,” KDVR-FOX31 Denver, 2/1/2015
• “‘Death with Dignity’ To Be Debated At The Colorado Legislature,” KUNC, 2/2/2015
• “Capitol Conversation: Physician Assisted Suicide,” KRCC, 2/2/2015
• “We all have a right to die with dignity; time for Colorado legislature to ensure that,” Aurora Sentinel, 2/4/2015
• “Colorado right-to-die bill gets first public hearing, which could last for up to eight hours,” ABC7 News Denver, 2/6/2015
• “Committee rejects Colorado’s proposed assisted suicide law,” Denver Post, 2/6/2015
• “Colorado lawmakers vote down assisted suicide bill,” Reuters, 2/7/2015
• “Colorado rejects right-to-die legislation,” AJC.com (via Associated Press), 2/7/2015

District of Columbia and Maryland

• “‘Death With Dignity’ bill likely to get slow walk through D.C. Council,” Washington Post, 2/2/2015
• “Bill would allow terminally ill people to end their lives,” Washington Post (via Associated Press), 2/2/2015
• “D.C., Md. lawmakers advancing ‘Death with Dignity’ measures,” ABC7 News, 2/4/2015

Montana

• “Support Aid in Dying legislation,” Helena Independent Record, 2/5/2015
• “HB 328 would take away end-of-life choice” The Montana Standard, 2/8/2015

New York

• “Lawsuit Seeks to Legalize Doctor-Assisted Suicide for Terminally Ill Patients in New York,” New York Times, 2/4/2015
• “Lawsuit Looks to Legalize Aid in Dying in New York,” TIME, 2/4/2015
• “New Lawsuit Could Make N.Y. 6th State Where Doctors Can ‘Aid in Dying’,” Newsweek, 2/4/2015
• “3 terminally sick patients sue New York state over assisted suicide law against doctors,” New York Daily News, 2/4/2015
• “Lawsuit asks court to allow doctor-assisted suicide in New York,” Reuters, 2/5/2015
• “Is Aid in Dying a Civil Right Long Overdue?,” Huffington Post, 2/5/2015
• “Death with dignity suit on par with Brooklyn pol’s legislative agenda,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 2/6/2015

Elsewhere

Death with Dignity is debated even in states that do not have bills on the books or legislative docket.

• Illinois: “Family Struggles With Father’s Wish To Die,” NPR, 2/1/2015
• Kentucky: “Friends call murder-suicide a love story,” WDRB News, 1/31/2015
• New Mexico: “Editorial: Legislature, not courts, should update aid in dying,” Albuquerque Journal, 2/1/2015
• Ohio: “Debate Forum: The death debate,” Dayton City Paper, 2/3/2015
• Wisconsin: “State lawmaker has personal ties to a proposed ‘death with dignity’ bill,” The Badger Herald, 2/2/2015

Image by Communicore82.