Hawaii House Bill 650 to expand assisted suicide law.

Hawaii is the best example of how the assisted suicide lobby will support a "tight" bill to legalize assisted suicide and the next year introduce a bill to eliminate "restrictions."

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Hawaii legislature

Hawaii House Bill 650 (HB 650) would expand Hawaii's assisted suicide law by reducing the waiting period, allowing non-physicians to approve assisted suicide and expanding who can counsel someone for assisted suicide.

HB 650 is not a surprise since a similar bill was debated but not passed in Hawaii last year.

Hawaii debated and defeated assisted suicide bills almost every year. In 2018, the sponsor of the Hawaii assisted suicide bill included more restrictions than the Oregon law and sadly, the bill passed.

The very first Hawaii's assisted suicide report (2019) included a push to remove certain restrictions in the law. I stated in my commentary that:

Even though assisted suicide was legal for less than one year, the assisted suicide lobby is promoting two options for expanding the assisted suicide law.

Hawaii is the best example of how the assisted suicide lobby will support a "tight" bill to legalize assisted suicide and next year introduce a bill to eliminate "restrictions."

Today I read Rhode Island assisted suicide bill (H 5210) which is similar to the New York State assisted suicide bill. The assisted suicide lobby has introduced a tradition style assisted suicide bill, with the hope of it passing, and then they will push to widen the bill in the following years.

Last week I wrote about New York State's assisted suicide Assembly Bill 995 (A00995) and Senate Bill S2445 that are based on the original Oregon assisted suicide law. The New York assisted suicide lobby failed to legalize assisted suicide in the past so they are attempting to legalize assisted suicide with tighter restrictions and in the near future they will push for expansions of the law.

There is only one line in the sand. It is either legal to kill by assisted suicide or not. Once assisted suicide is legal we are only debating the reasons to kill and who can do the killing.