Oregon removes assisted suicide hurdle for certain patients

Oregon’s governor has signed into law a bill that eliminates a waiting period for assisted suicide medications for patients with short life expectancies.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic lawmakers in the state, waives a 15-day waiting period for life-ending medications for Oregonians expected to die within that period, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}“This improvement will result in fewer Oregonians suffering needlessly at the end of their lives,” state Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D), one of the bill’s sponsors, told the AP.

Exceptions to the 15-day waiting period normally mandated under state law must be approved by a patient’s doctors, according to the AP. There is an additional 48-hour wait to obtain the prescription after the waiting period, which remains in effect.

Kim Callinan, CEO of a nonprofit advocating for the expansion of assisted suicide laws, told the AP that the new law would eliminate a needlessly cruel waiting period for patients who could not afford it.

“Forcing eligible patients to die suffering unnecessarily while they wait 15 days was not the intention of the Oregon law,” she said.

About 1,500 people have died via assisted suicide since Oregon legalized the practice in 1997, according to the AP.