Maine Legalizes Medically Assisted Suicide

On Wednesday, Maine became the ninth jurisdiction to legalize medically assisted suicide when Governor Janet Mills signed the Maine Death With Dignity Act, joining California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. It narrowly passed both houses before it found its way onto the governor’s desk.

The bill requires the patient to undergo two waiting periods and one written and two oral requests and obtain opinions from at least two physicians stating that it is appropriate. The person requesting the medication must also be at least 18 and have a “terminal illness,” defined in the bill as one that cannot be cured and will likely result in death within six months. The Act criminalizes coercing a patient into requesting life-ending medication and falsifying a request for the procedure.

Supporters of the bill say that terminally ill patients should have the option to end their lives with dignity. But critics claim that the policy is dangerous and entices insurance companies to promote medically assisted suicide in leu of quality care. Matt Valliere, executive director of Patients Rights Action Fund, commented that the legislation “puts the most vulnerable people in society at risk for abuse, coercion and mistakes.”

See Tal Axelrod, Maine Legalizes Medically Assisted Suicide, The Hill, June 12, 2019.

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.