Death with Dignity Legislative Update: 1–23–23

We are another week into the 2023 legislative session and additional Death with Dignity bills and amendments have been introduced in the last week. Several new Death with Dignity bills and amendments have been introduced over the last week. Here is our latest update:

Massachusetts:

Senator Joanne Comerford introduced the Massachusetts End of Life Options Act (SD.265), which would expand medical aid in dying to Massachusetts. Massachusetts is one of our high priority states for 2023 and we are hopeful about getting a bill passed this year.

New York:

Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal introduced the Medical Aid in Dying Act (S2445). This is a companion bill to the Assembly version (A995) introduced last week by Assemblymember Amy Paulin to permit medical aid in dying in New York.

Rhode Island:

Representatives Ajello, Tanzi, Knight, Finkelman, Dawson, Craven, McEntee, Donovan, Speakman, and Handy introduced the Lila Manfield Sapinsley Compassionate Care Act (H2510) which would legalize medical aid in dying.

Vermont:

Senator Virginia Lyons introduced an amendment (S0026) to the Vermont Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act. The amendment would remove the Vermont residency requirement and has been referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.

Hawai’i:

A group of Hawai’i legislators introduced an amendment to the Our Care, Our Choice Act (HB650/SB899). These bills would allow for specialized nurses to prescribe medical aid in dying and allow certain nurses with psychiatric specializations to counsel patients who qualify for medical aid in dying. If passed, the waiting periods for requesting medical aid in dying for all patients would be reduced from 20 to 5 days. Lastly, patients expected to die imminently would be able to skip the mandatory waiting period.

Once bills are introduced, the next stage of the legislative process is usually a public hearing for the bill. As of this writing, two public hearings have been announced for Death with Dignity bills we are tracking:

Washington

HB 1281 (a package of accessibility improvements we spoke about here) will receive a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness on January 25, 2023 at 1:30pm PST.

Oregon

HB 2279 (A bill removing Oregon’s residency requirement we spoke about here) will receive a public hearing in the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Public Hearing on January 23, 2023 at 3:00pm PST.

We continue to be optimistic about the fast pace of bills being introduced this year and expect more to come very shortly. Follow this page for more updates on Death with Dignity advances across the country!