1. Legal Status of PAD, January, 2016
ProCon.org, DeathwithDignity.org
PAD legal by ballot measure and/or legislative statute in OR, WA, VT, and now California
By decision of state Supreme Court in Montana
District court decision in New Mexico, which legalized PAS in Bernallilo county was reversed August 11, 2015; likely to be appealed to state Supreme Court, but this decision makes the practice again illegal in the state.
Pink: illegal by common law (established by past court decisions)
Red: Illegal by statute
White: not explicitly addressed
Yellow: legislation and/or lawsuit pending
Yellow with black stripes: legislation defeated/tabled 2015
Blue: related but different legislative action taken
Status as of 10/7/15:
Details at
Maine: bill introduced 4/7/15; passed by Joint Health and Human Services committee on vote of 7-5. Passed by House (76-70), defeated in Senate (18-17).
New Hampshire: bill “to study end-of-life decisions” introduced 1/8/15; passed in House in March; vetoed by governor.
Vermont: while VT passed a PAS law in 2013, it included “sunset provisions” which would have significantly loosened the constraints around the process required to request, prescribe, and administer lethal medications. A bill repealing those sunset provisions, and thus leaving the process constraints in place, was passed and signed into law in 2015.
Massachusetts: bill introduced 1/15/15; hearing scheduled for October 27. No further information available.
Rhode Island: bills introduced 2/12/15 (House) & 3/3/15 (Senate). Both bills “tabled for further study”
Connecticut: bill introduced 1/23/15, but failed to reach a vote in Senate Judiciary committee
New York: Bills to legalize PAS introduced in both House and Senate (2/13/15); parallel “self-determination” bill introduced in House (1/15/15) session ended; neither bill advanced. Lawsuit dismissed by state Supreme Court; appeal pending. Bills will be reactivated as second session gets underway in January 2016.
New Jersey: bill introduced in 2014; passed House; pending final vote in Senate. Media reports suggest bill unlikely to reach a vote in the Senate before end-of-session in January. Gov. Christie vowed to veto.
Delaware: bill introduced 5/28/15; “tabled” in committee
District of Columbia: bill introduced to District of Columbia council; a public hearing was held on July 10, but no action taken so far on the bill.
Maryland: Parallel bills introduced in House and Senate; heard in committee in both chambers. Bill killed April 1 with decision not to vote. New bills poised for re-introduction in 2016.
Virginia: no specific statutory or common law prohibition; no legislative action to explicitly legalize pending.
North Carolina: bill introduced 4/9/15; referred to Judiciary committee 4/13/15; stalled.
Tennessee: bill introduced 3/31/15; committees which heard bill in each chamber voted to move to summer study.
Wisconsin: bills introduced (for 7th time in 20 years) in each chamber (House, 2/11/15; Senate, 3/3/15); referred to respective chambers’ health committees in February; stalled.
Minnesota: bills introduced in each chamber (Senate, 3/18/15; House, 3/23/15); legislative session ended with no action on the bills.
Iowa: bill introduced in House, 1/21/15; stalled in committee
Missouri: bill introduced in House 1/7/15; legislative session ended with no action on the bill.
Kansas: bill introduced in House 1/28/15; referred to Health committee; legislative session ended with no action on the bill.
Nebraska: new bill introduced Jan 2016
Oklahoma: bill introduced in House 2/2/15; referred to Health committee; legislative session ended with no action on the bill.
Wyoming: bill introduced but quickly tabled and recommended for further study
Colorado: 2015 bill introduced in House; defeated in Health committee; new parallel bills introduced in Senate and House Jan 2016; scheduled for hearings in early February
Utah: bill introduced in House; tabled for further study
Arizona: bill introduced in Senate January 2016
Nevada: bill introduced in House; defeated in Health committee without a hearing
California: bill introduced in House, approved by Health, Judiciary, Appropriations committees; passed by Senate on vote of 23-14; pulled twice from hearings in the Assembly health committee. On August 17, the bill was reintroduced in a special legislative session called to consider specific issues related to healthcare financing and transportation. Bill passed in special session and signed by Governor Brown on October 5. Two lawsuits filed in California challenging constitutionality of statutory prohibitions against assisting suicide have been dismissed.
Alaska: bill introduced 2/9/15; heard by Health committee in April; status unclear
PAD legal
PAD legal or not illegal by court decision
Illegal by common law
Legislative session ended w/o action
Explicitly illegal (inc. HI)
Legislation defeated/tabled 2015/16
Legislation and/or lawsuit pending (inc. AK, DC)
Other legislative action 1