Death with Dignity Around the U.S.

Updated as of May 15, 2013

With the 15 years of data showing Oregon's Death with Dignity law is safe and utilized the way it was intended with no evidence of a slippery slope for vulnerable Oregonians and since our win in Washington in 2008, bills which seek to improve end-of-life care have been introduced on ballots and in state legislatures around the country.

State legislators have the Oregon and Washington laws to use as a guide. While many bills are drafted each year, the majority fail. Some consider it a failure that most bills do not end up becoming law, but we view these bills as a testament to the growing support of the Death with Dignity movement, the will of the public, and the strength of Oregon's and Washington's model legislation.

Below is a summary of the status of current Death with Dignity-related legislation in the US.

Bills in favor of physician-assisted death:

*Connecticut*
Bill Numbers	House Bill 6217, House Bill 6645, and Senate Bill 48
Bill title	House bills: An Act Concerning Death with Dignity and An Act Concerning Compassionate Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients; Senate: An Act Concerning Physician-Assisted Suicide
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts.
Date Introduced	House Bill 6217: 1/28/13; House Bill 6645: 3/13/13; Senate Bill 48: 1/9/13
Latest update	House Bill 6217 and Senate Bill 48 were referred to Joint Committee on Judiciary after introduction. House Bill 6645 introduced and referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health and received public hearing on 3/20/13. All three bills weren't advanced by the committees before their respective deadlines and won't move forward.

*Hawaii*
Bill Number	House Bill 606
Bill title	Relating to Death with Dignity
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts.
Date Introduced	1/18/13
Latest update	Introduced and referred to Health, Judicial and Financial Committees on 1/22/13 and missed crossover deadline on 3/7/13. Bill unlikely to move forward in this biennium.

*Kansas*
Bill Number	House Bill 2068
Bill title	Kansas Death with Dignity Act
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts.
Date Introduced	1/23/13
Latest update	Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services on 1/24/13.

*Massachusetts*
Bill Number	House Bill 1998
Bill title	An Act affirming a terminally ill patient's right to compassionate aid in dying
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts.
Date Introduced	1/22/13
Latest update	Introduced and referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health.

*Montana*
Bill Number	Senate Bill 220
Bill title	Montana Death With Dignity Act
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts.
Date Introduced	1/31/13
Latest update	Introduced on 1/31/13, referred to the Judiciary Committee, and after hearing public testimony on 2/11/13 Committee voted to table the bill on 2/13/13. Tabling a bill is a procedural move to stop a bill from moving forward without voting for it or against it.

*New Hampshire*
Bill Number	House Bill 403
Bill title	Commission to study end of life decisions
Summary	Would appoint members to a commission to study Death with Dignity legislation for people dying from terminal illnesses.
Date Introduced	1/3/13
Latest update	The Judiciary Committee sent the bill to the full House of Representatives with a recommendation to pass it, and on 2/21/13, the full House approved the bill by a margin of 211 to 140. The bill has been introduced to the Senate and referred to the Health, Education and Human Services Committee and received hearing on 3/19/13.

*New Jersey*
Bill Number	Assembly Bill 3328 and Senate Bill 2259
Bill title	New Jersey Death with Dignity Act
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts subject to voter approval.
Date Introduced	9/27/12 in the Assembly and 10/15/12 in the Senate.
Latest update	On 2/7/13, Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee voted to move the bill to the full Assembly for a vote. Committee vote: 7-2 and 2 committee members abstained. Senate: Introduced and referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on 10/15/12.

*Vermont*
Bill Number	Senate Bill 77
Bill title	An Act Patient Choice and Control at End of Life
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts.
Date Introduced	1/28/13
Latest update	Endorsed by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on 2/1/13; Judiciary Committee referred bill to full Senate on 2/8/13 with a negative recommendation. On 2/13/13, Senate voted 16-15 (Senators' votes were split 15-15 and the Lieutenant Governor broke the tie) to amend the bill drastically. After over three more hours of debate on 2/14/13, the Senate voted 22-8 to pass the bill as amended. The House approved an amended bill which reintroduced safeguards emulating the Oregon law; the vote was 81-64 on 5/1/13. On 5/8/13, the Senate approved of an amended version of the House bill by a vote of 17-13, and on 5/13/13 the House voted to concur with the Senate bill by a vote of 75-65. According to news reports, the Governor is expected to sigh the legislation into law the week of 5/20/13. Policy wonks can read the full timeline of the bill courtesy of the Barre Times Argus.

Bills banning physician-assisted death:

*Connecticut*
Bill Number	Senate Bill 229
Bill title	An Act Concerning the Penalty for Assisted Suicide
Summary	Would ban physicians from helping dying patients hasten their deaths.
Date Introduced	1/22/13
Latest update	Bill was introduced and referred to the Joint Committee on Judiciary. On 4/19/13 the bill missed a deadline to advance, and won't receive further consideration this session.

*Montana*
Bill Number	House Bill 505
Bill title	Clarify offense of aiding or soliciting suicide
Summary	Would ban physicians from helping dying patients hasten their deaths.
Date Introduced	2/15/13
Latest update	After the Judiciary Committee approved the bill by a margin of 12 to 8 on 2/21/13, the full House voted to support the bill 51 to 46 on 2/28/13. The bill was introduced to the Senate and referred to the Judiciary Committee on 3/8/13 and received a hearing on 3/26/13. Committee was deadlocked with a vote of 6-6 on 4/3/13, and on 4/11/13 the Senate voted 31-17 to pull the bill out of committee for a debate on the Senate floor. On 4/15/13, the Senate struck down the bill with 23 voting for it and 27 against.