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This bill proposes legislation to legalize physician-assisted suicide across the United States. It cites findings that medical costs soar at the end of life, quality of life declines, and that some terminally ill patients request assisted suicide not just for pain but also loss of dignity. The bill would require two doctors to approve a patient's request, inform them of other options first, and mandate the patient be an adult citizen within six months of death from a terminal illness. It establishes a 15-day waiting period between request and approval, and that lethal medication be self-administered under doctor supervision. Insurance would not be impacted and medication costs would be covered by HHS. HHS would enforce the law, which would take effect

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62 views1 page

2 Bill

This bill proposes legislation to legalize physician-assisted suicide across the United States. It cites findings that medical costs soar at the end of life, quality of life declines, and that some terminally ill patients request assisted suicide not just for pain but also loss of dignity. The bill would require two doctors to approve a patient's request, inform them of other options first, and mandate the patient be an adult citizen within six months of death from a terminal illness. It establishes a 15-day waiting period between request and approval, and that lethal medication be self-administered under doctor supervision. Insurance would not be impacted and medication costs would be covered by HHS. HHS would enforce the law, which would take effect

Uploaded by

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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Rogers / 1 Senator Master

S.W._____
A BILL

To create a bill legalizing assisted suicide.


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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Physician-Assisted Suicide Act of 2017.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) Medical costs soar during the final months of life.
2) In most cases, quality of life extremely declines toward the end of life.
3) Californias aid-in-dying law doesnt guarantee that a person will be able to find a doctor willing to participate in
physician-assisted suicide.
4) In 2009, about $55 million was spent by Medicare on the last two months of patients lives.
5) The average savings for the family of the deceased could be $20,000 if uninsured cancer patients not using
hospice care were to choose physician-assisted suicide six months before their natural deaths.
6) Most modern medicine participants agree that physicians have an obligation to do their best to relieve pain and to
promote the dignity of terminally ill patients in their care.
7) It was found that 18.3% of the physicians had received a request from a patient to be approved for physicianassisted suicide in a survey of American physicians.
8) The use of assisted suicide would be the last resort, following other pain-relieving methods and palliative or shortterm care.
9) Many studies show that a small, but conclusive, amount of U.S. doctors have performed either euthanasia or
physician-assisted suicide, despite its illegality.
10) Since the Oregon DWDA (Death With Dignity Act) was enacted in 1997, about 460 patients have used the law
and have died by self-administration of a lethal dose of medicine prescribed by their doctors.
11) 59 deaths resulted from 95 prescriptions being written for lethal medications in 2009 (in the remaining cases, the
medication was not used after being prescribed).
12) A Gallup Poll conducted in 1990 revealed that about 84 percent of Americans would choose to discontinue lifesupport measures given that recovery was impossible.
13) Patients request a quickened death not only because of unrelieved pain, but because of a many persistent physical
symptoms in addition to a loss of meaning, dignity, and independence.
14) Between ten and fifty percent of patients using short term care methods still report notable pain one week before
death.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The Physician-Assisted Suicide Act of 2017 shall legalize physician-assisted suicide in all 50 states. Patients must
be approved by two doctors and obtain their written permission prior to receiving the lethal medicine. Prior to
approval, patients must be informed of other short-term treatments or care. Patients must be legal adults, citizens of
the United States, competent, and within six months of death due to a terminal illness (estimated by two doctors). In
this case, competence is defined as the patients ability to make health care decisions for her or himself and to
communicate them to a licensed physician. There must be a 15-day waiting period between patients request and
approval. Upon approval, patients will be informed and given a lethal dosage of medication which shall be selfadministered at a time of the patients choosing, but supervised by a licensed doctor. The patients life or health
insurance policies will not be affected by their usage of this assisted suicide law. Medicine shall be provided to
patients free of charge, with costs covered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
B) This law is to be enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
C) This bill is to be enacted immediately upon official approval by President or Congress. This bill has no expiration
date.

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