The Virginia General Assembly will consider two bills to allow for medical assistance in dying, colloquially known as Assisted Suicide.
HB 858 (Hope) and SB 280 (Hashmi) would allow an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition to request an attending healthcare 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 declines to assist. The bills make it a felony to coerce or influence a patient to end their life.
When this issue was being studied by the Joint Commission on Health Care in 2019, dLCV raised concerns that medical assistance in dying should not become an alternative resulting from a failure to provide adequate health care for people with complex disabilities. We also urged that if the option does become available, people with disabilities not be excluded from the option solely because of their disability. To the extent possible, these concerns appear to have been addressed in the proposed legislation.
We recognize that there are strongly held opinions in this disability community on the question of assisted suicide. dLCV is interested in hearing feedback from the community about this proposal. dLCV will try to represent the various perspectives of the community.
We do our best to stay on top of the most important issues for people with disabilities, but clearly, we cannot know everything! If you know of something going on in the legislature that you think we should know about, please let us know. Contact us at ga@dlcv.org or info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 1-804-225-2042.
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.