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| In a 5-0 decision, the New Mexico Supreme Court rejected a "right" to "physician aid in dying," meaning physician-assisted suicide. |
In the last six years, four states have strengthened their laws against assisted suicide. These states are Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia and Idaho.[2]
In Montana, a court case gives doctors who assist a suicide a potential defense to a homicide charge.[3] In Montana, bills seeking to legalize physician-assisted suicide have repeatedly failed.[4]
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in just four states: Oregon, Washington, Vermont and California.
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[1] See Morris v. Brandenburg, 376 P.3d 836 (2016) at: https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/morris-conclusion_001.pdf ("we reverse the district court's contrary conclusion").
[2] See: Associated Press, “Brewer signs bill targeting assisted suicide,” Arizona Capitol Times, April 30, 2014, attached at https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/az-bill-signed_001.pdf (“The proposal was prompted by a difficult prosecution stemming from a 2007 assisted suicide”); Associated Press, “La. assisted-suicide ban strengthened,” The Daily Comet, April 24, 2012, attached at https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/la-ban-strenghthed.pdf ; Georgia HB 1114, attached at https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/ga-bill.pdf; and Margaret Dore, “Idaho Strengthens Law Against Assisted Suicide,” Choice is an Illusion, July 4, 2011, attached at https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/idaho-strengthens-law.pdf (”Governor Butch Otto signed Senate Bill 1070 into law. The bill explicitly provides that causing or aiding a suicide is a felony”).
[3] Baxter v. State, 354 Mont. 234, 251, ¶50 (2009).
[4] The most recent bill to fail was SB 202 in 2015. See e.g., “SB 202 is Dead,” Montanans Against Assisted Suicide, May 7, 2015, http://www.montanansagainstassistedsuicide.org/2015/05/sb-202-dead.html
