People are constantly asking what is the situation on doctor-assisted dying for the terminally ill in the USA. The legal scholar Thaddeus Pope has published a new and insightful article on the state-to-state differences for medical aid in dying. This is an abstract:
Medical Aid in Dying: Key Variations Among U.S. State Laws
Thaddeus Mason Pope
ABSTRACT: Medical aid in dying (MAID) is legal in eleven U.S. jurisdictions representing one-fourth of the U.S. population, but despite its legality, MAID is practically available to only a subset of qualified patients in these states.
MAID’s eligibility requirements and procedural safeguards may impede a patient’s access. In response, state legislatures have begun to craft more flexible rules as they recalibrate the balance between safety and access. There is already significant variability among U.S. MAID statutes in terms of eligibility requirements, procedural conditions, and other mandates.
While the Oregon Death with Dignity Act has served as the template for all subsequent MAID statutes, the states have not copied the Oregon law exactly. Furthermore, this nonconformity grows as states continue to engage in an earnest and profound debate about the practicality of MAID.
Thaddeus Mason Pope, Medical Aid in Dying: Key Variations Among U.S. State Laws, J. Health and Life Sci. L., Oct. 2020, at 25. © American Health Law Association, www.americanhealthlaw.org/ journal.
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It’s ten places, not eleven as stated above. They are:
California
Colorado
District of Columbia (not yet a state)
Hawaii
Maine
New Jersey
Oregon
Vermont
Washington
Montana has a court ruling permitting this.
(November 2020)
