Washington State is suspending its reports on assisted suicide

Washington, one of the first states in the country to legalize assisted suicide, says it will suspend its reports showing data surrounding the deadly practice due to budget cuts.

Key Takeaways:

• Washington State legalized assisted suicide in 2008 — the second state to do so after Oregon.

• Each year, the Washington Department of Health (DOH) has released reports on how many people have been killed through assisted suicide.

• The state now claims that, due to budget cuts, the most recent assisted suicide report released – 2023 – will be the last.

The Details:

Thaddeus Mason Pope, a pro-assisted suicide activist, reported that there will be no more reports on assisted suicide data in the future, noting that the DOH quietly announced the news on its “Death with Dignity” site. The department stated:

Important Note: Due to funding cuts, the Death with Dignity Program at the Department of Health is suspended. … A 2024 annual statistical report will not be released. The most recent available data year is 2023.

The statute legalizing assisted suicide, however, mandates that the “department of health shall generate and make available to the public an annual statistical report of information collected.”

As Wesley Smith noted at National Review, regulations and restrictions on assisted suicide often erode over time.

Why It Matters:

Information about assisted suicide often shows just how dangerous and troubling it truly is — including in Washington.

While many proponents of the deadly practice argue it is necessary to help people to avoid a slow, painful death, the reality is often very different and much more disturbing. Data has consistently shown that the leading reasons for requesting assisted death are not pain or illness but a fear of losing autonomy and independence as well as concern over becoming a burden on loved ones.

In Washington specifically, troubling data has indicated exactly why these reports need to be released — because the drugs being dispensed in assisted suicide often cannot be accounted for.

Four hundred prescriptions for lethal drugs were written in 2021, leading to 291 deaths. Yet the drugs are not tracked after being dispensed, and reports have found that many people died of natural causes before being able to take them.

What happened to the drugs after being dispensed to all 400 people with approximately 25% unused is not known — meaning someone could accidentally take them… or worse, intentionally give them to another person.

The Bottom Line:

Reports like the one required in Washington were mandated to prevent possible abuses of the law. Yet, as always, once assisted suicide is legalized, barriers to potential abuse are bulldozed away as the number of suicides skyrocket.

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