In 2019 Oregon expanded their assisted suicide law by giving doctors the ability to waive the 15 day waiting period when a person was deemed near to death. In 2023 Oregon removed the residency requirement extending assisted suicide nationally to anyone.
In 2021 California expanded their assisted suicide law by reducing the waiting period from 15 days to 48 hours. It forced doctors who oppose assisted suicide to be complicit in the process (later struck down by the court), and it forced all medical institutions to post their policy on assisted suicide.
In 2022 Vermont expanded their assisted suicide law by removing the 48 hour waiting period, (allowing a same day death), removing the requirement that an examination be done in person, (allowing approvals by telehealth), and extended legal immunity to anyone who participates in the act.
In 2023 Vermont expanded their assisted suicide law by removing the residency requirement expanding assisted suicide nationally by allowing anyone to die by assisted suicide in Vermont.
In 2023 Washington State expanded their assisted suicide law by allowing advanced practice registered nurses to approve and prescribe lethal poison, by reducing the waiting period to 7 days, and by forcing healthcare institutions and hospices to post their assisted suicide policies.
In 2023 Hawaii expanded their assisted suicide law by reducing the waiting period from 20 days to 5 days, by allowing the waiting period to be waived if the person is near to death, and by allowing advanced practice registered nurses to approve and prescribe lethal poison.
There is currently a lawsuit by the assisted suicide lobby challenging the New Jersey state residency requirement for assisted suicide.
The goal of the assisted suicide lobby is to legalize assisted suicide in more states and to expand the scope of the assisted suicide laws in the states that have legalized assisted suicide.
It must be noted that the American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying have determined that when a person, who does not otherwise qualify for assisted suicide, decides to stop eating and drinking, that they will immediately qualify for assisted suicide based on becoming terminally ill.
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Alex Schadenberg is the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Canada.
