In 1994, the Georgia legislature enacted OCGA § 16-5-5 (b), which provides that any person “who publicly advertises, offers, or holds himself or herself out as offering that he or she will intentionally and actively assist another person in the commission of suicide and commits any overt act to further that purpose is guilty of a felony.” Violation of the statute is punishable by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years. OCGA § 16-5-5 (b). The issue in this case is whether §16-5-5 (b) is constitutional under the free speech clauses of the federal and state constitutions.
RAPSI spoke with Penney Lewis, a law professor at King’s College London and expert on end-of-life issues. Lewis explained that “There aren't any current legislative proposals (being considered by the legislature) although debates are held in the House of Commons on the Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPP) policy on assisted suicide.” Lewis is critical of the DPP’s current policy due to its failure to include any reference to a patient’s condition or experience on the basis of discrimination concerns, its preferential treatment of amateur rather than medically assisted suicide, and its focus on the motives of the suspect rather than those of the patient.
Washington’s Death with Dignity Act allows adult residents in the state with six months (180 days) or less to live to request lethal doses of medication from physicians. In this report, a participant of the act is defined as someone to whom medication was dispensed under the terms of this law. This report focuses on the 103 participants for whom medication was dispensed between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. It includes data from the documentation received by the Department of Health as of February 29, 2012.
MONTPELIER. Vt. -- The Vermont House voted Monday night to give the last vote of approval to a bill that would make the state the first to legalize physician-aided suicide by legislation. With a 75-65 vote, the bill goes to Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, who supports the measure and is expected to sign it into law. "It's an important step of terminally ill Vermont patients," said Dick Walters of Shelburne, Vt., president of Patient Choices Vermont. Walters has worked for the legislation for 10 years.
Maine lawmakers declined today to follow in the footsteps of Vermont, rejecting a bill that would have allowed physician-assisted suicide in Maine. Winterport independent Rep. Joe Brooks told his fellow House members that he has seen his share of unnecessary suffering among terminally ill family members who simply had no choices other than to wait to die. He says that's why he sponsored a bill allowing terminally ill patients the option of "dying with dignity." "This is a question of choice, this is not a mandate, this is not an issue that is forcing people to die before their time," Brooks said. After nearly an hour of debate, in which some members expressed concerns that end-of-life decisions might not reflect the patient's original intent, lamakers rejected the bill, 95-43. The measure now moves to the Senate.