New Jersey will Allow Terminally Ill Patients to End Their Lives

New Jersey joined the increasing number of states that allow terminally ill patients to be provided life-ending medication. Governor Phil Murphy signed the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act in April, and it went into effect this Thursday.

A patient must have a prognosis that they will not live beyond six months because of their disease or condition. Furthermore, a physician or psychiatrist must determine that the patient has the mental capacity to make the decision to end their own life. New Jersey has been attempting to pass the bill since 2014, but this is the first time the bill made it to the Senate, which it narrowly passed.

The jurisdictions that allow physician-assisted suicide are: California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Hawaii, Montana and the District of Columbia. At least 19 other states are considering physician-assisted suicide bills.

See Taylor Romine, New Jersey will Allow Terminally Ill Patients to End Their Lives Starting Today, CNN, August 1, 2019.