Falls Church, Va. – A new white paper from Aging with Dignity’s Assisted Suicide Watch reveals state laws that authorize physician-assisted suicide are largely vague in their definitions and restrictions, and put vulnerable populations at risk of abuse or coercion.  ASW white paper author Billy Barvick demonstrates how the death-dealing legislation is sold to the public as safe, carefully regulated, for unbearable pain and only for those who are terminally ill, but in practice none of that proves true, creating a “dystopian mess,” according to the report.

“Our research provides a comprehensive overview of how reality never matches rhetoric when it comes to physician-assisted suicide,” Aging with Dignity President Jamie Towey said.  “The elderly and disabled deserve so much more than the false compassion and false choice of suicide-affirming care.”

Among the ASW nine-page report’s many findings:

• In theory, only those who are “terminally ill” can qualify for a lethal prescription. But data from Oregon, California, and Colorado reveal that ailments such as anorexia, arthritis, a hernia, diabetes, and even “complications from a fall” qualified patients.
• The mentally-capable “safeguard” in state laws fails to protect those who may be suffering from impaired judgment. In Oregon (the only state that collects and publicly reveals psychiatric referral data) less than 1% of people in 2024 received a psychiatric referral, when studies show that receiving a terminal diagnosis can cause depression in up to 77% of people.
• Though “inadequate pain control” is one of the main arguments used to pass suicide-affirming care legislation, not only is it not a primary reason people choose it, but the number is likely significantly inflated.
• In seven states, “good faith” provisions can shield potential wrongdoers from scrutiny. Because the physician is not required to be present at the time of ingestion of the deadly drugs, nobody knows what happens to any unused drugs.
• Side effects of the lethal drug combinations used to kill patients are downplayed and lack any form of regulation, creating a serious safety risk. Death can be anything but “peaceful.”
• State-required data collection varies widely and does not provide enough oversight to prevent abuse and coercion. In the case of Washington, data reporting has ceased entirely, and in New Mexico, it has yet to begin despite four years since approval.

Assisted suicide is promoted as “death with dignity” and “death on one’s own terms,” but “the risks of coercion and abuse through all the loopholes available are clearly more prominent than advertised,” Barvick writes.  “Touted safeguards are simply gates with broken locks, not impenetrable walls.”

Aging with Dignity is a national non-profit organization with a mission to affirm and safeguard human dignity at the end of life.  Assisted Suicide Watch’s mission is to track, expose and oppose state and national efforts to expand physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia (“mercy killing”).

Read the report here.