Bill to allow assisted suicide survives House vote, moves on to Senate
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Mar. 21—CONCORD — Terminally ill adults may voluntarily take medication to end their own lives under legislation that barely cleared the House of Representatives on Thursday.
After a civil though at times emotional debate, the House approved the bill (HB 1283), 179-176, sending it to the state Senate, where the outcome is uncertain.
State Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, said supporters waited 23 years — while 10 other states and the District of Columbia adopted their own assisted-suicide laws — before promoting what she called a measured change.
"We have very, very carefully decided how to construct a conservative bill that learned its lesson by our not being first in the nation and by waiting," Smith said.
Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, said that as someone who suffers from chronic back pain, he was concerned that if adopted, this option eventually would be extended to others, such as the disabled or those with incurable conditions.
"This bill is the camel's nose under the proverbial tent, because that's how it started" elsewhere, Roy said.
As written, the option would be available to those who have been told they will die within six months or who are eligible for hospice care, are mentally competent and are capable of taking the prescribed drugs without assistance.
Smith said she believes many who obtain the medications will end up not using them.
"These people want to live. What we could give them is the opportunity to make sure that their death is peaceful," Smith said.
Rep. Katherine Perez, R-Londonderry, said the bill lacks a state residency requirement, doesn't require the support of the doctor who has determined the patient to be terminally ill, and could lead to medical experts coming here for the purpose of declaring candidates eligible for end-of-life assistance.
Other provisions in the bill include:
—Medical evaluation: Two health care providers must independently evaluate the person and confirm their eligibility. Either provider can refer the patient for a mental health evaluation; lack of mental capability terminates an application.
—Witnesses: Two people must witness the patient's written request for the end-of-life medication care; only one can be a family member.
—Provider opt-out: Any medical provider can decline to participate in this program.
—Waiting period: A patient may not take the medication until at least 48 hours after a health care provider has approved it.
—Death certificate: Anyone dying in this manner will have their cause of death listed as the terminal illness, rather than suicide or homicide.
Voting did not break neatly along party lines.
House Republicans opposed it, 142-36, and House Democrats backed it, 142-33.
On the eve of the vote, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, came out in opposition.
"With an increasing percentage of medical expenditures being funneled through government programs, we cannot allow death to be added to the available cost containment menu," Osborne posted on X, formerly Twitter.
House leaders from both parties said this was a vote of conscience for each member.
Rep. Chris Muns, D-Hampton, said he couldn't support the proposal as a parent of a developmentally disabled child.
"These laws are inherently dangerous and harmful to people with disability and other vulnerable populations," Muns said.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Lynn, R-Windham, a co-sponsor, said the bill contains safeguards so ill patients are not abused.
"This bill is about personal freedom," Lynn said.
The bill was opposed by the New Hampshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention, which includes the New Hampshire Hospital Association, Catholic Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, Catholic Charities Inc., New Hampshire Brain Injury Association and the Strategies for Disability Equity.
Cornerstone Action and New Hampshire Right to Life, the leading groups opposed to legal abortions, also urged its defeat.
Only one of the 24 state senators, Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, has signed onto to the bill as a co-sponsor.
