Legislating Assisted Suicide
Assisted suicide is currently legal in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington as well as in the District of Columbia. Montana allows for a defense against criminal liability regarding assisted suicide, that consent could be used as a defense according to a decision by the state Supreme Court.
Assisted suicide is not health care. Whether it be euthanasia, assisted suicide, aid in dying or death with dignity all seek the same result, to allow for people to be killed by medical personnel. The details of the laws may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but the sole purpose is the take the life of another by administering drugs to end that patient’s life.
Proponents of assisted suicide and euthanasia have introduced bills in various states for the 2025 legislative session.
The list below is not exhaustive but presents information on the more active states that have had bills introduced in their legislatures to either legalize or expand assisted suicide.
Alex Schadenberg of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition covers this topic in the United States and abroad. See his article on the expanding assisted suicide laws.
Arizona —SB1404 called End-of-life Decisions; Terminally Ill Individuals, was introduced, sent to two committees, but didn’t get a hearing, so the bill is considered dead. This bill would have opened the way for assisted suicide to become law in the state.
California—Assisted suicide is already law. SB403 has been introduced and referred to the Rules Committee. This bill (which is similar to a bill from the previous legislative session SB1196) is looking to amend the 2015 End of Life Option Act. The language has not been released, but this new bill seems to call for a study to make the following changes: Permitting IV self-administration will allow for euthanasia, permit non-doctors to assist suicide, eliminate the terminal illness requirement, eliminate the residency requirement so as to allow for suicide tourism. For more see EPC post on 2.19.25.
Connecticut—HB-5454 was introduced and on January 17, 2025 was referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health. Action had to be taken by a certain date and since no further action was taken, the bill is dead for this legislative session.
Delaware—HB 140 is a bill that legalizes physician-assisted death, specifying some guidelines as to who qualifies to die. The bill was introduced and assigned to the House Health & Development Committee. HB 140 was favorably reported out of Health and Human Development Committee and went to the House floor for a vote, where it passed, 21-yes, 17-no, 3-absent.
The bill has been assigned to Executive Committee in the Senate. This bill must be stopped. Please see stop140.com for more information and take action through the Diocese of Wilmington site.
Florida–HB 471 was filed on February 2, 2025. The bill is called “End-of-life Options” which would allow for assisted suicide with certain provisions. On February 19, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee, Health & Human Services Committee, and the Health Professions & Programs Subcommittee. It is currently in the Health Professions & Programs Subcommittee.
A companion Senate bill is expected to be introduced soon.
Illinois—The “End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act” (HB 1328) was introduced in the House and was assigned to the Executive Committee. The identical Senate bill, SB 9, was also introduced in January and assigned to the Executive Committee. These bills legalize assisted suicide, which goes against the sanctity and dignity of human life and undermines the value of each human person.
As of 3/19/25, the House Executive Committee has extended the deadline for action on HB 1328, so the opportunity to push this bill forward will continue. Senate bill SB 9 was amended in committee and has gained a few co-sponsors since its introduction.
Both bills need to be stopped. Offering death is not the answer. What is truly needed is increased access to quality health care, enhanced palliative care options, and loving and compassionate support services for those at the end of their life. These are the alternatives that uphold the dignity of every person. See an article about Bishop David Malloy who argues that assisted suicide is “false charity.”
For more information and to contact your representatives, please see the alert by the Illinois Catholic Conference.
Indiana—H1011, an assisted suicide bill, was introduced on January 8, 2025 and was referred to the Committee on Public Health.
Kentucky–HB 408 was introduced on February 7, 2025, and was referred to the Health Services Committee on February 12.
Maine—Assisted suicide is also legal in Maine, but the LD613 bill introduced this year allows for the attending physician to waive the waiting period. “The attending physician may waive any portion or all of the waiting periods if, in the attending physician’s medical opinion, it is in the best interests of the qualified patient, given the qualified patient’s condition.” This bill was referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services on February 20, 2025.
Maryland—The “End-of-Life Options Act” (HB 1328/SB 926) would legalize assisted suicide in the state. Like most assisted suicide legislation, this bill has potential to target patients with disabilities and treatable illnesses to become victims of those who are considered health care professionals. There are many reasons to oppose this bill, one of which is that it does not have a residency requirement, meaning that people from come from out of state to die. In the House, HB 1328 was referred to the Health and Government Operations and Judiciary Committees. A hearing was scheduled for Health and Government Operations for March 3. In the Senate, SB 926 was referred to the Judicial Proceedings Committee and a hearing was scheduled for March 5, then postponed to March 11 and as of March 10, the hearing has been cancelled indefinitely.
Thanks to all those who contacted the representatives to oppose this bill. We will continue to track what happens with it.
Massachusetts—Two related assisted suicide bills, HD2540 and SD1665, were both filed on January 16, 2025. Massachusetts has faced several assisted suicide bills in the past, but those who support assisted killing continue to push to get something passed in the state.
Nevada— A bill to legalize a euthanasia pill designed to end a patient’s life, has been reintroduced in the Nevada Legislature. AB 346 legalizes physician assisted suicide by administering a pill to kill a patient. This bill was introduced in 2023 and was vetoed by then Governor Lombardo. This year, the bill was introduced and members elected to send the bill to the Assembly Select Committee, which sets the bill for floor action without having to go through other committees.
To voice your opinion to your state legislators, go to Nevada Catholic Conference.
New Hampshire—A bill to allow assisted suicide, HB 254, was introduced on January 8, 2025, and referred to the Judiciary Committee. A public hearing was held on January 29, and an Executive Session is scheduled for March 3.
New Jersey—Assisted suicide has been legal in New Jersey since August 1, 2019. A bill to waive the current 15 day waiting period under certain circumstances, A1880 was introduced in the House on January 9, 2024, and referred to the Assembly Health Committee. The companion bill, S3588, was introduced in the Senate on September 19, 2024, and referred to the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.
On January 9, 2024, a bill to make it a serious crime to coerce a patient to request medication pursuant to the assisted suicide or to forge a patient’s request for such medication, A406, was introduced on January 9, 2024. The bill was referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
A bill to repeal assisted suicide in New Jersey, A407, was introduced on January 9, 2024, and referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
New York— A136/S138 was introduced on January 8, 2025. In both the House and Senate chambers, the bill has been referred to the Committee on Health. This bill, labeled “medical aid in dying” pushes to legalize the deadly practice of assisted suicide in the state.
Assisted suicide is not medical care. It puts the elderly, the poor, the under-insured, people in medically underserved communities, people with depression, and people living with disabilities at risk
See an Action Alert from the New York Catholic Conference about A136/S138 here.
Oregon—Introduced and amendment that would further loosen the guidelines to assisted suicide. SB 1003 changes the term “attending physician” to “prescribing provider” and “consulting physician” to “consulting provider” which essentially allows for non-doctors to prescribe death for a person. It reduces the waiting period from 15 days to 48 hours, enables the “providing prescriber” to waive the waiting period to essentially allow a same day death, and requires hospices and hospitals to publicly disclose their assisted suicide policy. The bill was assigned to committee and a public hearing was held on 3/3/25, where there was overwhelming opposition to the bill. If the bill were to move forward, the next step would be for the committee to call for a work session in which there would be a vote to send the bill to another committee or go for a floor vote. See a report on the hearing.
Rhode Island —H7100 and its companion bill S2093 were introduced in January 2024 and sent to committee. However, both bills were eventually held for study and no further action was taken.
Tennessee—Companion assisted suicide bills HB0598/SB0640, were introduced on January 30 and 31, 2025 respectively. HB0598 was assigned to the House Population Health Subcommittee on February 5. SB0640 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 12.
Vermont—Assisted suicide is legal in Vermont. H 75 was introduced on January 23, 2025, and was referred to the Committee on Health Care. The bill would allow non-physicians such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants to participate in assisted suicide. This is the third time that Vermont is trying to expand the state assisted suicide law.
Washington —HB1876 has been introduced and referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services. This bill will expand the state assisted suicide law by permitting non-physicians to participate in assisting suicide by expanding the definition of “attending qualified medical provider.” The bill also permits the “attending qualified medical provider” to waive the 7-day waiting period within the law to enable a same day death.
