Colorado Loosens Safeguards on Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia

By Meg Wingerter, additional information provided by Margaret Dore.

Colorado loosened regulations on medical aid in dying, also known as assisted suicide, physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.  

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis [pictured here] signed Senate Bill 68, which shortened the bill's waiting period for terminally ill people who wish to end their lives with a drug cocktail to seven days. Under the previous law, people with less than six months to live had to request the medication twice, at least 15 days apart, before they could receive it.

The law also will open access to medical aid in dying in Colorado to non-residents, and allow advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe the medication cocktail. APRNs can prescribe most other drugs.

Colorado Governor Signs Bill Reducing Patient Protections

Governor Polis (pictured here) signed SB068, an amendment to Colorado’s End of Life Options Act (assisted suicide and euthanasia) into law on June 5, 2024. 

The bill reduces the waiting period for patients seeking an aid-in-dying prescription (assisted suicide and euthanasia), from 15 to 7 days, increases the number of practitioners who can participate in the law, and allows providers to waive the waiting period if the patient is not likely to survive more than 48 hours and meets all other qualifications.