Did You Know That Colorado Allows Physician-Assisted Suicide?
It's not a subject that most people are up to talking about on a daily basis, but "assisted suicide" and how it works in Colorado does come up.
In 2021, there were over 150 cases of physician-assisted suicide in Colorado. It's been legal tin the state since 2016, when the "End-of-Life Option" act was passed. It was proposition 106: “Access to Medical Aid in Dying,” Over 1.7 million people voted "Yes" on the proposition, while just over 955,000 voted against it.
When I hear the term "assisted suicide" I always flash to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, as I bet most people my age do. He was very strong advocated for physician-assisted suicide; he had the famous quote:
Dying is not a crime.
Kevorkian had been doing assisted suicides privately for years before performing his first public assisted suicided in 1990 for an Alzheimer's patient in Michigan. After that death, Michigan revoked Kevorkian's medical license, forever. Kevorkian passed away five years before Colorado's "End-of-Life Options" act was passed.
Every year, the state publishes a report on the number of physician-assisted suicides were recorded. Since the law was enacted in 2017, 777 people have passed with the assistance of a physician. They also note what ailment these patients were suffering from.
- In 2021, of the 156 persons to whom "end-of-life" drugs were delivered, the highest number of those were suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): 23.
- 2021'a 156 is an 18% increase over 2020's numbers.
- In 2021, a majority of the deaths happened at residences: 163.
- In 2021, 71 physicians were involved in medically-assisted suicides.
What are your thoughts on Colorado's "End-of-Life" Options law?
In Memoriam: 2022 Deaths
In Memoriam: 2021 Deaths