The Virginia General Assembly is considering, once again, legislation that will allow for medical assistance in dying, colloquially known as Assisted Suicide. This is a controversial issue, with deeply held beliefs on both sides, throughout the disability community.
HB 886 (Hope) and SB 359 (Boysko) would allow an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition to request and an attending health care provider to prescribe a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient’s life. There are precautions in the bills and protections from legal liability for a practitioner who assists or who declines to assist. The bills make it a felony to coerce or influence a patient to end their life. Because of the felony provisions in the bills, there is a small potential fiscal impact on the state budget.
The Senate bill will be heard in Senate Health and Education. The House bill will be heard in House Courts of Justice.
dLCV believes that medical assistance in dying should not become an option resulting from a failure to provide adequate health care for people with complex disabilities. Many in the disability community are deeply concerned that this will be the outcome of the legislation. However, dLCV also maintains that if the option does become available, that people with disabilities should not be excluded from the option solely because of their disability.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.
There are hundreds of bills currently before the 2026 legislature. dLCV is looking for volunteers to help sort through them to identify proposals that might impact people with disabilities. If you are interested in serving as a Bill Reviewer, please email ga@dlcv.org with “Bill Reviewer” in the subject line. A member of our team will follow up with the next steps.