By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
H.B. 391 seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Utah. I am a lawyer in Washington State where we have a similar law. Our law is based on a law in Oregon.
Problems include:
1. HB 391, if enacted, will encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives.
HB 391 seeks to legalize assisted suicide for persons with a "terminal disease," which is defined as having less than six months to live. In Oregon's law, which uses the same definition, young adults with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, are "eligible" for assisted suicide. Such persons can have years, even decades, to live. See https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/a-2270-3r-memo-12-02-14.pdf "Eligible" patients can also have years to live because doctors can be wrong. See https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/terminal-uncertainty.pdf and https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/signed-john-norton-affidavit_001.pdf