OLR Report 2013-R-0450 summarizes for statistical data and research on suicide rates from the states that have passed assisted suicide legislation, before and after the legislation passed.
Three states (Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) currently have statutes providing a procedure for a terminally ill patient to request medication to end his or her life. These laws are sometimes referred to as “death with dignity” or “physician-assisted suicide” laws. Oregon’s law took effect in 1997, Washington’s in 2009, and Vermont’s in 2013. In each of these states, the law specifies that actions taken in accordance with it do not constitute suicide, assisted suicide, mercy killing, or homicide under the law. Montana does not have such a statute, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that doctors have a defense to prosecution for assisting a suicide with the person’s consent (Baxter v. Montana, 354 Mont. 234 (2009)).
The report provides the suicide rates since 1990 for Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the nation as a whole. Oregon and Washington have each had suicide rates that are higher than the national average since 1990. Vermont’s suicide rate has been higher than the national average in most years during that period, except for a few years in the mid to late 1990s. The report presents this data, as well as information on suicide rates by age group and gender in these three states. It also presents data on Oregon’s and Washington’s Death with Dignity Acts.
For more information, read the full report.
