How America abandoned its assisted suicide "safeguards"

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Alexander Raikin

Alexander Raikin wrote an excellent article: How America abandoned its suicide safeguards which explains how the US states that have legalized assisted suicide abandoned the "safeguards" in their assisted suicide laws. I have written several articles on this topic especially since nearly every assisted suicide law in America, once passed, was later expanded. Raikin explains:

In 2020, Jane, a 29-year-old Colorado woman with eating disorders, was “provided with lethal drugs … in the midst of a mental-health crisis”, according to a lawsuit filed this year by the Institute for Patients’ Rights, an advocacy group seeking to overturn Colorado’s assisted-suicide program. Jane qualified for assisted suicide, the lawsuit contends, yet she was discharged from a hospice because she no longer qualified for hospice care, and her hospice considered her no longer competent to consent to medical treatments. So how could she have consented to suicide-by-doctor?

Jane was fortunate: her parents successfully sued for guardianship, and a court ordered the medication to be destroyed. Jane “went on to recover from all of it, including her anorexia”, according to Matt Vallière, the executive director of the Institute for Patients’ Rights. Jane found work as an occupational therapist, went on vacation, and even purchased a home. Although she ultimately died two years later of complications from her history of eating disorders, she’d had an opportunity to “live her best life”, Vallière says. That any medical professional decided that Jane qualified for assisted suicide, he claims, was “absurd”.

Raikin states that Jane’s case isn’t unusual and violations of assisted-suicide laws are rampant with no known suspensions or revocations of clinician licenses, even when patients were endangered. Raikin explains how these laws are being violated:

Much of the issue is oversight. In each of the 11 states that have implemented suicide-by-doctor, regulations require clinicians to submit compliance forms, typically within days of a patient’s death. These forms document that the patient expressly consented to die through assisted suicide, and that the clinicians followed all necessary legal safeguards and eligibility criteria, including affirming that the patient is terminally ill and of sound mind.

Failure to submit this documentation isn’t just a statutory offense. Medical providers and pharmacists who fail to “make a good-faith effort to file required documentation in a complete and timely manner”, as Washington state law instructs, risk losing“immunity protection” for the criminal act of assisting someone’s suicide. Yet a Department of Health report found that physicians improperly reported compliance for a third of all assisted suicide deaths in the Evergreen State. Indeed, Washington is missing 515 compliance forms entirely for the period between 2009 to 2023, according to my calculations based on annual reports, and is also short of 293 “written request” documents that patients are required to sign attesting that they wish to die by suicide. In Colorado, my calculations find that almost 1,800 compliance forms have remained missing since 2017.

The actual number of assisted suicide deaths is unknown. Raikin writes:

States can’t answer the most basic question: how many physician-assisted suicides have been facilitated by clinicians in America? Across Colorado and California, state authorities have no record of the type of “aid-in-dying drugs” that were prescribed to more than 1,000 patients, according to my analysis of state reports, including the California End of Life Option Act 2024 Data Report. In Oregon, the health authority has records on 376 assisted suicides completed in 2024, but for another 178 cases in which medications were prescribed, authorities don’t know if the patient died by ingesting the drugs, or even died at all.

Washington State has decided to stop publishing the assisted suicide data.

In 2022, Washington state announced that its Department of Health is diverting “all available funding” for its assisted-suicide compliance-review program to “data entry of submitted forms”, due to lack of funding from the state. Data entry is commendable. But by law, the state is also required to “review” reporting compliance and issue an annual report. Instead, this summer, a pop-up appeared on the department’s website: “Important Note: Due to funding cuts, the Death with Dignity Program at the Department of Health is suspended. … A 2024 annual statistical report will not be released.”

Washington state’s decision surprised even assisted-suicide clinicians. Jessica Kaan, the medical director for End of Life Washington, an institution which facilitates assisted suicides in the state, warned on a forum for providers that “no one will even be monitoring or responding to emails or phone calls that come into the DOH [Department of Health] about the DWD [Dying With Dignity] program”. Kaan called it “a grim situation”. After this push back, the state announced that it will release the 2024 report after all — but it will be the last one ever to be released.

Raikin then explains that New Mexico does not publish an annual report, even though the assisted suicide law requires an annual report. States are also removing the "safeguards" in the law. Raikin explains:

This systematic disregard of safeguards is happening as the process is being fast-tracked: states are removing requirements that applicants reside in state; allowing less-credentialed providers, such as social workers, nurses, and physician associates,to perform assessments instead of psychiatrists and psychologists; and reducing minimum waiting periods. In Oregon, which waived waiting periods in 2020,clinicians have reported in Oregon’s annual Death with Dignity Act report that assisted suicides routinely occur on the same or next day the patient makes there quest. Since in some cases it takes up to five days for a patient to die from ingesting the death cocktail, it is possible that it will take a patient longer to die than to receive lethal prescriptions.

The proportion of vulnerable persons dying by assisted suicide has also increased. Raikin writes:

The proportion of deaths of vulnerable patients has also increased by magnitudes. In the first year of Washington state’s program, 16% of patients mentioned “the physical or emotional burden on family, friends, or caregivers” as a reason for their decision to die, and 2% were concerned about “the financial cost of treating or prolonging the patient’s terminal condition”. By 2023, according to the state’s reporting, the number concerned with “feeling like a burden” jumped to half of all assisted-suicide deaths, and a 10th were concerned about “financial implications of treatment”.

A similar trend is unfolding in Oregon. In 2009, the first year that the program was available, no patients told their assisted-suicide clinician that they were choosing to die because of financial concerns, and only 12% felt like a burden. By 2024, the state’s reporting revealed that it was 9% and 42% of all assisted suicide deaths, respectively. No other states even report this data. The “attending physician follow-up form” in California, which records patient concerns that contribute to the choice of “aid-in-dying”, doesn’t have “financial concerns” or “feeling like a burden” on its otherwise identical menu of options.

Compliance with the law from physicians and the government is lacking. Raikin interviewed Craig New who overseas the assisted suicide program in Oregon. Raikin reports:

Craig New, who told me on the telephone that he’s the sole employee of the Oregon Health Authority responsible for monitoring compliance reporting, says that “ultimately the things usually get resolved because we bug them until they finally send in the paperwork”,but even so, his office has reported around a dozen physicians to the Oregon Medical Board for violations of compliance reporting. Thanks to privacy laws regarding medical licensing, it is impossible to know whether the reported physicians faced repercussions, but my review of the Oregon Medical Board’s investigations reveals that few offenses are prosecuted.

Raikin reports that Dr Rose Jeanine Kenny, in Oregon, was reprimanded by the Oregon Medical Board for contravening the assisted suicide law:

One example is Rose Jeannine Kenny, a family doctor, who in 2016 was sentenced to five years probation by the Oregon Medical Board for dozens of alleged prescription violations. Later the board received “credible information” that Kenny may have again violated the same provisions she was previously reprimanded for, and may possibly have committed “violations of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act”, such as failure to ensure consent, follow the rules of written and oral assisted suicide requests, abide by the minimum waiting period, and file compliance records. Kenny once again kept her license, this time by agreeing to “participate in all physician steps” for 10 more assisted suicides, supervised by a mentoring physician from Compassion & Choices — the largest lobbying group for assisted suicide in the United States. (UnHerd was unable to reach Dr. Kenny at any of the medical practices with which she is associated online.)

Raikin states that no researchers or law enforcement are allowed to systematically review the assisted suicide records. He then tells the story of a person in Maryland with a eating distorder:

Recent court proceedings in Maryland eerily echo the lawsuit regarding Jane. Angela Guarda, the director of the Eating Disorders Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, testified that she was contacted by an ex-patient of Jennifer Gaudiani, the physician who coined the term “terminal anorexia”, and who has prescribed assisted-suicide medication to at least one patient. The concept of terminal anorexia was meant to apply only to patients over age 30; for younger patients, Gaudiani stressed in a paper for the Journal of Eating Disorders that “every effort should be made to promote full recovery and continuation of life”.

The ex-patient reported that her assisted-suicide assessor told her “she would ‘make an exception’ for me and ‘allow’ me to die”. The patient reported feeling coerced. She eventually weaned herself off morphine and hospice drugs and, 18 months later, reports that she’s doing well, with a job, a group of friends and a new puppy.

Raikin ends the article by stating:

Patients like these, who need hope the most, are facing much more than their illnesses. They also confront an assisted-suicide regime that blatantly and routinely violates the legal safeguards that were meant to ensure their protection from a death they might not want.

Further articles on this topic:

• Assisted suicide lobby launches court case to force Colorado to permit suicide tourism (Link). 
• The push to legalize and extend assisted suicide in America (Link).
• Oregon 2024 assisted suicide report (Link). 
• Death by assisted suicide is not what you think it is (Link).  
• Assisted suicide laws, once passed will inevitably expand (Link). 
• New York assisted suicide bill is a "bait and switch" (Link). 
• Oregon bill would expand assisted suicide again (Link).
  

Congressional Resolution (HCR 109) on the Dangers of Assisted Suicide

Reps. Wenstrup and Correa Resolution (HCR 109) on the Dangers of Physician Assisted Suicide in Washington on May 23, 2024 

You can read the full resolution here.

Reps. Brad Wenstrup, D.P.M., (R-OH) and Lou Correa, (D-CA) introduced a resolution “expressing the sense of the Congress that assisted suicide puts everyone, including those most vulnerable, at risk of deadly harm.” 

Rep Brad Wenstrup

In 2019, the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency that makes policy recommendations to enhance the lives of all Americans with disabilities, released a report titled “The Danger of Assisted Suicide Laws” recommending Congress enact the resolution that Reps. Wenstrup and Correa have introduced in the 116th and 117th Congresses.

“As a physician, I believe physician-assisted suicide fundamentally goes against our duty to ‘first, do no harm’ and puts our nation’s most vulnerable – seniors and individuals with disabilities – at grave risk,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup, D.P.M. “We must not lose sight of the undeniable fact that every life has intrinsic value and is worth protecting.”

Rep Lou Correa

“Americans with disabilities deserve access to quality health care and should be given every opportunity available to live quality, dignified lives,” said Rep. Lou Correa. “Our most vulnerable deserve the same access to suicide prevention care and all health care as anyone else. There is so much more work to do to ensure that we’re properly addressing the mental health crisis in our communities–and we cannot stop delivering resources directly to those who need it most in our neighborhoods.” 

Rep Greg Murphy

“Rather than support and facilitate access to physician-assisted suicide, we should prioritize expanding accessibility to palliative and hospice care to maximize the quality of life for patients experiencing excessive pain,” said Rep. Greg Murphy. “As a practicing physician for more than 30 years, I have dedicated my career to saving lives and comforting my patients. Assisted suicide is unethical and vulnerable individuals must be protected, especially when there are alternative options available.” 

Rep Chris Smith

“Our focus should be on killing pain instead of making it easier to kill people,” said Rep. Chris Smith. “When a society singles out the weakest and most vulnerable patients as candidates for physician-assisted suicide, it denies the value of their lives, undermines their dignity, and rejects their needs, including their need for the best possible palliative care.” 

Matt Valliére

“In today’s political environment, when something has bi-partisan support, that means something. So, we commend Congressmen Lou Correa (D-CA), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), and all the cosponsors for their effort to gain support for and introduce this bi-partisan Sense of Congress resolution which highlights the inherently discriminatory nature of assisted suicide laws. None other than the National Council on Disability, which is charged by the federal government to make policy recommendations for the disability community, issued a recent report that found that people living with disabilities are targeted for disfavored, deadly treatment and face greater barriers to accessing health care when assisted suicide is legal. Our country has a responsibility to ensure that vulnerable people enjoy the same access to suicide prevention care and all health care as everyone else. We encourage lawmakers to come together and support this resolution that exposes the dangers of assisted suicide,” said Matt Vallière, Executive Director, Patients Rights Action Fund. 

Vincenzo Piscopo

“Quadriplegics struggling to live in the community, faced with housing, financial, and transportation problems, and the constant struggle to obtain adequate homecare and coverage of mobility equipment from government and insurers, are often overwhelmed and depressed. Just after spinal cord injury or other significant disability, grief regarding loss of physical abilities and future dreams can cause folks to want to die. Doctors who may agree that life with XYZ disability is not worth living can prescribe drugs under the assisted suicide public policy to people with disabilities who refuse treatment. Doctors should not help overwhelmed people with disabilities kill themselves, rather our society should solve the underlying problems causing them to give up. This is why we at United Spinal filed a groundbreaking lawsuit to overturn the California assisted suicide law and join Reps. Correa and Wenstrup in decrying assisted suicide and euthanasia laws and support this common sense resolution,” said Vincenzo Piscopo, President and CEO of United Spinal Association.

Diane Coleman

“The public image of severe disability as a fate worse than death has become grounds for carving out a deadly exception to longstanding laws and public policies pertaining to suicide prevention services. Legalizing assisted suicide means that some people who say they want to die will be offered suicide intervention, while others will be provided suicide assistance. The difference between these two groups of people will be their health or disability status, leading to a two-tiered system that results in death to the socially devalued group. As a national, secular, social justice organization, Not Dead Yet strongly supports this bipartisan effort to counter the many myths about legalized assisted suicide,” said Diane Coleman, President and CEO of Not Dead Yet.

California's assisted suicide deaths surge. People with disabilities steered to death.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Article: California assisted suicide deaths increase by 63% in 2022. (Link)

James Reinl wrote an excellent article that was published in the Daily Mail on August 15 on the 63% surge in 2022 California assisted suicide deaths. Reinl reports on the data but he also received input from myself and several people with disabilities for his report. Reinl states:

Record numbers of people ended their lives in California last year in America's biggest doctor-assisted suicide program, after lawmakers made it easier for residents to get their hands on lethal drugs.

Last year, 1,270 people got fatal prescriptions under the state's End of Life Option Act (ELOA), and 853 people used them to end their lives, the California Department of Public Health said in its annual report.

That's a jump from 863 scripts and 522 deaths the previous year.

The surge in assisted suicides came after California lawmakers in 2021 backed a law that shortened from 15 days to 48 hours the time needed to apply for a cocktail of suicide drugs. That law took effect in January.

Matt Valliere

Matt Valliere, director of the Patients' Rights Action Fund, told Reinl:

'It's no wonder that the number of assisted suicides soared in the year after the California legislature effectively removed the original 15-day cooling-off period,'

'Most Medi-Cal patients cannot get a mental health consult in less than 72 hours and are not guaranteed palliative care, but now, they can get suicide drugs in 48 hours and the state will pay for it every time.'

I was questioned by Reinl on the possible under-reporting of assisted suicide in California:

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg, director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, warned that many US assisted-suicide programs have unreliable data, as not all doctors accurately report scripts and deaths back to the state health body.

In California last year, doctors wrote 294 prescriptions for which there was an 'unknown ingestion status,' says the 15-page report.

That could mean... that life-threatening drugs are sitting unused in a drawer, or that the patient used them to kill themselves and the death was not recorded.

'This self-reporting system makes it is impossible to know when a doctor does not send in a report or abuses the law,' said Schadenberg.

Reinl commented on the lawsuit that was filed in April to overturn the California Assisted Suicide Act:

Several campaign groups for disabled people earlier this year filed a lawsuit to declare California's ELOA 'unlawful and unconstitutional' because it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In their suit, they complain about the bias they faced trying to get health care during the coronavirus pandemic and say the system is too quick to offer assisted suicides.

People with disabilities often struggle to get the medical care they need and, as a result, may be quick to seek assisted suicide as an option, lawyers in the case say.

Ingrid Tischer (left)

Reinl interviewed Ingrid Tischer and Diane Coleman, from Not Dead Yet, a group representing people with disabilities that are directly involved with the lawsuit:

Ingrid Tischer, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who lives with a form of muscular dystrophy, says doctors were unwilling to treat her properly when she contracted pneumonia during COVID-19.

'The law gets in your head. That's what happened to me,' says Tischer.

A non-disabled person is steered towards suicide prevention. And the disabled person is steered toward a suicide prescription.'

Diane Coleman

Diane Coleman, a woman with neuromuscular disabilities who has used a wheelchair since childhood, and now heads the national rights group Not Dead Yet, is also involved in the lawsuit.

'Assisted suicide is just one of the many symptoms of an ableist eugenics society that believes life with a disability is a fate worse than death,' she said.

Reinl also includes interviews with disability leaders, Brianna Hammond, John Kelly and Anita Cameron, and an interview with a man named Christopher, whose father died by assisted suicide in Oregon.

Euthanasia tightens its grip as quadriplegic Canadian considers assisted death

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Rose Finlay

Approval for euthanasia is faster than getting disability benefits.

James Reinl has published another in his series of articles on euthanasia and assisted suicide. This latest article, published on July 3, 2023 in the Daily Mail, focuses on the growth of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the countries where it is legal.

Reinl reports:

The warning comes on the heels of revelations that the Netherlands euthanizes otherwise healthy people with autism, and as Australian officials debate whether to let children as young as 14 end their lives in the nation's capital.

In Canada, with the world's most permissive assisted suicide program, a quadriplegic woman has said she's considering euthanasia because it's easier to get than disability benefits.

Matt Vallière, director of the Patient's Rights Action Fund told Reinl that legalizing assisted suicide tells people with certain disabilities that they are better off dead. Vallière told Reinl that:

'Every expansion of assisted suicide and euthanasia simply adds additional subsets of people with disabilities to the group of those who qualify or makes it easier, quicker, or cheaper for them to get it,'

Every jurisdiction that has legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide have experienced expansions in the number and reasons for death. Reinl comments on the Netherlands:

The Netherlands in 2002 became the world's first country to allow doctors to kill patients, at their request, if strict conditions were met.

Nearly 60,000 opted for the procedure between 2012 and 2021, official figures show.

The country's program came under scrutiny this week with revelations that several people with autism and intellectual disabilities had been legally euthanized in recent years because they said they could not lead normal lives.

The cases included five people younger than 30 who cited autism as either the only reason or a major contributing factor for euthanasia, stretching the limits of what the law originally intended.

Reinl quoted Irene Tuffrey-Wijne, from Britain's Kingston University, and her colleagues, who reviewed Dutch files on euthanasia requests from people with autism or with lifelong mental impairments. They published their findings in the journal BJPsych Open.

Many of the patients cited different combinations of mental problems, physical ailments, diseases or aging as reasons for seeking euthanasia.

Some said they were lonely, in great pain, or felt isolated.

'There's no doubt in my mind these people were suffering,' Tuffrey-Wijne said. 'But is society really okay with sending this message, that there's no other way to help them, and it's just better to be dead?'

Reinl comments on a proposal in Australia to expand euthanasia to 14 year-olds, and the Australian euthanasia case of Lily Thai (23) who lived with a rare autoimmune condition and died by euthanasia.

Then there is the case of Rose Finlay (33), an Ontario quadripligeic woman. Finlay released a video where she explains that she can get euthanasia in 90 days, but that it will take 6 to 8 months to qualify for disability benefits. Finlay did not collect disability benefits before because she was employed but recently has become ill. When she applied for disability benefits she learned that she would have a long wait.

Alex speaking at the European Parliament

Interviewed by Reinl for this article, I called it a case of 'abandonment':

'She can die by MAiD in 90 days, but she is forced to live in complete poverty for six to eight months as she waits for approval for disability benefits,'

Canada may have had as many as 13,500 euthanasia deaths in 2022, an increase of more than 30%. I further comment:

'As soon as it is legalized there are always people who are experiencing some form of suffering who will then argue that euthanasia should also apply to them,'

'This is not about a slippery slope argument, but it is a logical extension of the law.'

Vallière agreed.

Disability rights community support Congress Resolution 68 opposing assisted suicide

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On February 4, Lou Correa (D-CA) and Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) introduced Congressional Resolution 68 which addresses the risk of legalizing assisted suicide. (Link to the Resolution).

The disability rights community strongly supports H.Con.Res.68. In the press release, Daniese McMullin-Powell an ADAPT Organizer stated:

“I am a wheelchair-using, multi-disabled woman. Many of my friends and acquaintances with disabilities have been lost to Covid-19 because of early rationing of treatment, while preferring younger people without disabilities who are determined to be more valuable than those of us with disabilities. Many of us have become closer to terminal for lack of even standard, typical treatments and care during this pandemic,”

“Yet, according to the Oregon reported reasons people are requesting assisted suicide, every person receiving a lethal prescription is disabled; and pain is not even in the top five reasons, which are all disability-related concerns. Medicine and policy need to refocus on assuring advances in pain management, home care, and extending and supporting a better life.”

Darrell Lynn Jones, Interim Executive Director, National Council on Independent Living said:

“Our society places a high value on ability and stigmatizes significant disability. It's no surprise that those of us with a wide variety of disabilities see disability as a huge loss of worth and place in our society,”

“Some people with disabilities may go through a time where they feel they might be better off dead. As one struggles to get basic needs met, some people feel worn down. If assisted suicide had been legal in the past, even if it were supposedly only for those with 'terminal' conditions, I might not be here today. I’m grateful that assisted suicide was not legal back then, and I'm committed to keeping it that way. This is an important reason why the National Council on Independent Living opposes assisted suicide laws. NCIL is a leader in the disability rights movement, our political struggle for equal rights.”

Michelle Uzeta, Of Counsel, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund said:

"Where assisted suicide is legal, it is inevitable that some people's lives will be ended without their consent due to implicit bias, mistakes, or coercion. No safeguards, existing or proposed, are adequate enough to prevent these abuses, and the lack of oversight only increases the danger to already at-risk individuals,"

“Our priority should be on improving and expanding health care services that people with disabilities and all marginalized communities rely on to live, instead of making it easier to end our lives.

Diane Coleman, President/CEO, Not Dead Yet said:

"As a national, secular, social justice organization, Not Dead Yet strongly supports this bipartisan effort to speak truth to counter the many myths about legalized assisted suicide,"

"As Americans with disabilities, we are on the front lines of the nation's health care system that too often devalues old, ill, and disabled people. We are deeply concerned that profits are being prioritized over human needs. So we are grateful for this Sense of Congress that explains the dangers of mistake, coercion, and abuse under a public policy of assisted suicide."

Matt Vallière, Executive Director, Patients Rights Action Fund said:

"Congressmen Lou Correa, Brad Wenstrup, and all the cosponsors should be commended for introducing this new truly bi-partisan Sense of Congress resolution which highlights the inherently discriminatory nature of assisted suicide laws. A report from the National Council on Disability found that people living with disabilities are targeted for disfavored, deadly treatment and face greater barriers to accessing health care when assisted suicide is legal. We as a society should ensure that vulnerable people enjoy the same access to suicide prevention care and all health care as everyone else. I encourage lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation that exposes the dangers of assisted suicide,"

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition urges everyone to contact their member of congress and urge them to support Congressional Resolution 68.

Congressman Lou Correa (D-CA) said:

“Americans with terminal illnesses and disabilities deserve access to quality health care and should not have their opportunity for a dignified life taken away from them,”

“I have various concerns with assisted suicide laws and proposals that may adversely affect patients. This resolution intends to protect vulnerable patients across the country from any attempts to pressure them into assisted suicide.“

Congressman Brad Wenstrup said:

“Physician-assisted suicide devalues human life and puts the most vulnerable among us – seniors, individuals with disabilities, and people dealing with psychiatric diagnoses – at grave risk,”

“As a country, we must do better and instead focus on providing the most comprehensive medical care possible to individuals nearing the end of their lives. We cannot lose sight of the undeniable fact that every life has value.”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition shares the concerns of the disability rights movement and Congressmen Correa and Wenstrup. Contact your Member of Congress. Let's get H.Con.Res.68 passed.

People with disabilities speak out against Delaware assisted suicide bill

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An article by DJ McAneny that was published by WDEL.com on Tuesday January 18 reports on a press conference organized by disability leaders concerning Delaware's assisted suicide bill HB 140. 

Terri Hancharick

McAneny quotes Terri Hancharick, the chairperson for the State Council for Persons with Disabilities who says that people with disabilities need options for living not dying:

"...Give them the option of support. Help them to live their best lives," ... "I'm just very surprised at the timing of this. Instead of institutionalizing death for the disability community, Delaware legislators should focus on ensuring that everyone has the care and resources that they need. We have to continue to advocate for reliable, competent care in the community. We have to include to advocate for full inclusion of people with disabilities."

McAneny quotes Daniese McMullin Powell from the ADAPT disability group who argues assisted suicide makes suicide too easy.:

"It just doesn't make any sense to have that law in place, because it's too easy. It leads to suicide contagion when such laws take the stigma off of having assistance, or even doing it yourself," ... "It makes it more common. And it makes other people that aren't even terminal have the idea that it's okay to go ahead with that, and that it's just a societal thing, and there's 'nothing wrong with it.'"

Stephanie Packer

McAneny reports that Stephanie Packer, from California, spoke about how her insurance company recommended lethal assisted suicide drugs for her terminal condition.

Stephanie Packer, a mother of four from California, said her terminal diagnosis led to her insurance recommending to her lethal drugs to perform assisted suicide would be much cheaper than life0saving treatments. While they eventually agreed to cover her treatment, she echoed McMullin Powell's concerns that governments shouldn't be setting such black-and-white legislation when that's not how businesses like health insurance work, and are instead focused on financial savings.

McAneny stated that Matt Valliere, Executive Director for the Patients Rights Action Fund stated that assisted suicide is a public policy that makes suicide a medical treatment for a subset of people, always, it's a subset of people with disabilities.

Delaware is being pressured by the assisted suicide lobby to legalize assisted suicide. The Delaware Assisted suicide bill will give doctors and nurses the right in law to prescribe a lethal suicide drug cocktail.

New Mexico passes a dangerous, discriminatory assisted suicide law.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Matt Valliere

Matt Valliere, the executive director of the Patients Rights Action Fund, wrote a scathing review of the New Mexico assisted suicide law that was published in Newsweek today.

Valliere criticises New Mexico for legalizing assisted suicide during the pandemic but he focuses on how these laws are suseptible to abuse, mistakes and coercion. He first focuses on the fact that the New Mexico law permits non-doctors to participate in assisted suicide. He states:

Beyond the fact that every supposed "safeguard" in the New Mexico law and others like it is unenforceable and circumventable, legislators in the state have allowed medical professionals with less training to facilitate patients' suicide. Doctors themselves are not always accurate in their prognostications, and patients could throw away good months, years or even decades over a best-guess mistake. Patients like Jeannette Hall, who would have killed herself with assisted suicide but is, thankfully, still alive decades later.

New Mexico legislators have endangered vulnerable patients by allowing even physician assistants and nurse practitioners to determine that a requesting patient has six months or less to live and provide them with suicide drugs. Medicare clearly prohibits nurse practitioners and physician assistants from certifying a terminal prognosis of six months when it comes to hospice eligibility. Suicide cannot be undone, and no matter who is determining eligibility, medical professionals make mistakes.

As I wrote in the past, Valliere focuses on why the New Mexico assisted suicide bill is the most permissive bill in the nation. Valliere comments on the law:

It defines "adult" as "a resident of the state who is eighteen years of age or older," but repeatedly uses the term "individual" rather than "adult" to delineate who is eligible for assisted suicide. Notably, the term "individual" is not defined, meaning that assisted suicide could be made available to non-residents and even children, potentially making New Mexico not only a destination for irresponsible suicide "tourism," but also the abuse of minors.

Valliere then exposes some of the assisted suicide abuses from Oregon

Assisted suicide laws invite elder and disability abuse while granting immunity to all those participating. For example, Michael Freeland, who had experienced acute depression and attempted suicide multiple times over several decades, received the lethal prescription and was left at home with the suicide drugs, even though medical professionals had previously removed all other means of his taking his own life from his home. So too, an elderly dementia patient, Kate Cheney, was referred for the non-required psychiatric evaluation and denied the lethal dose. Then, her daughter shopped around for a doctor until she found one who would say Ms. Cheney had "capacity" to make this life-and-death decision; that same doctor wrote in the report that Ms. Cheney's "choices may be influenced by her family's wishes and her daughter, Erika, may be somewhat coercive."

Valliere concludes his article by urging other states to reject assisted suicide.

Giving medical professionals immunity to assist in their patients' suicide not only fails to address any of the system's problems, but exacerbates the current disparities. The rest of us can avoid making the same mistake in other states by rejecting dangerous and discriminatory assisted suicide laws.

Previous articles about the New Mexico assisted suicide bill that is now the law

• New Mexico poised to legalize assisted suicide (Link).
• I was frustrated by the lies told during the New Mexico assisted suicide HB 47 legislative hearings (Link).
• New Mexico legislature will once again debate an extreme assisted suicide bill (Link).