Washington Bill to Allow Non-MD-Prescribed Assisted Suicide and to Shorten Waiting Period

I previously wrote about pending Oregon and Vermont legislation to do away with the requirement that only doctors be allowed to legally assist suicides. Now, it’s Washington’s turn, with a proposal to allow “qualified medical providers” to prescribe poison, defined as a licensed physician, physician’s assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse.

I previously opined about why I think this is a very bad idea, so I won’t belabor the points further.

The Washington bill also speeds up the waiting period between the first and second request for poison pills for some suicidal patients:

Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, if, at the time of the qualified patient’s initial oral request in subsection

(1) of this section, the attending qualified medical provider determines that the qualified patient: (a) Is not expected to survive for seven days; (b) is not expected to retain the ability to self-administer the life-ending mediation for seven days; or (c) is experiencing irremediable pain or suffering, then the qualified patient is exempt from the seven day waiting period between the first and second oral requests for medication.

That could mean spur-of-the-moment suicides.

The “strict guidelines protecting against abuse” aren’t meant to be permanent, but rather, are put in place to convince lawmakers or voters to swallow the hemlock. Once that is accomplished, activists shift tactics to steadily liberalize the guidelines — now redefined as “barriers” — to make assisted suicide ever easier to access. Because there apparently can never be enough.