Diane Coleman: Comments Opposing Oregon Bill HB 2279 to Remove Residency Requirement for Assisted Suicide

Oregon is currently considering a bill that would no longer require people to prove Oregon residency in order to pursue assisted suicide. This bill comes after the March 2022 settlement reached in Gideonse v Brown, which alleged that the residency requirement is unconstitutional. The court did not rule but the parties agreed to a settlement that precluded prosecution by the government defendants. The bill currently being considered by the Oregon legislature would repeal the residency requirement throughout the state. Read NDY President and CEO Diane Coleman’s testimony opposing this bill below:

Comments Opposing Oregon Bill HB 2279

to Remove Residency Requirement for Assisted Suicide

Oregon HB 2279, which would repeal the state residency requirement of the Oregon  assisted suicide statute, should be rejected by Oregon legislators. Oregon’s legislature  should respect the laws and procedures of other states and legislators who have  determined that assisted suicide laws pose a danger to their own residents.  

In March 2022, the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Medical Board voluntarily  agreed to stop enforcing the residency requirement and asked the Legislature to remove  it from the law.

Though assisted suicide proponents claim that it’s a constitutional issue,  no state high court has found a constitutional right to assisted suicide. 

Oregonians may wonder why another state would decline to pass an assisted suicide  law, which Oregon legislators have viewed as a benefit to its residents. Nevertheless,  many view these laws as a danger to people with serious illnesses, chronic conditions  and significant disabilities. 

On October 9, 2019, the U.S. National Council on Disability (NCD) released the findings  of a federal examination (https://ncd.gov/sites/default/files/NCD_Assisted_Suicide_Report_508.pdf) of the  country’s assisted suicide laws and their effect on people with disabilities, finding the  laws’ safeguards are ineffective and oversight of abuses and mistakes is absent. Over the  last two decades, every major national disability organization (http://notdeadyet.org/disability-groups-opposed-to-assisted-suicide-laws) that has taken  a position on assisted suicide opposes it. Some of the reasons for opposing assisted  suicide laws are:  

• When assisted suicide is legal, it’s the cheapest treatment available—an attractive  option in our profit-driven healthcare system. 

• Assisted suicide is a prescription for abuse: an heir or abusive caregiver can steer  someone towards assisted suicide, witness the request, pick up the lethal dose,  and in the end, even administer the drug—no witnesses are required at the death,  so who would know?  

• Many other pressures exist that can cause people with compromised health to  consider hastening their death.  

People with disabilities, whether our conditions are predicted to be terminal or not, are  often viewed as tragic and worth-less. These societal messages too often lead to suicidal  feelings, but these feelings deserve suicide prevention, not suicide assistance. 

Let other states determine how best to provide for the safety of their residents. Please  oppose HB 2279.