Colorado May Become the 3rd State to Drop its Medical Aid-in-Dying Residency Requirement

The Colorado Sun | By Jesse Paul

Senate Bill 68 would also shorten the mandatory waiting period for people seeking to end their lives to 48 hours from 15 days. Additionally, it would let advanced practice registered nurses prescribe aid-in-dying medication.

Colorado may become the third state to allow out-of-state residents to receive medical aid in dying through a bill that would also shorten the mandatory waiting period for people seeking to end their lives.

Senate Bill 68, which was introduced in the legislature on Jan. 22, would shrink the waiting period to 48 hours from 15 days and also let advanced practice registered nurses, in addition to doctors, prescribe aid-in-dying medication. 

The bill comes eight years after Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 106, which legalized aid in dying in the state for terminally ill adults given less than six months to live and who get the approval of two doctors.

Proponents of the bill say it would remove barriers that the ballot measure unintentionally put in place. 

“There are more people who are utilizing this option for end of life,” said Sen. Joann Ginal, a Fort Collins Democrat and one of the lead sponsors of the legislation. “We just want to make sure that those people are getting the care and the medication in the best way possible so that their lives will end in a more peaceful manner in the way they want at the time they want.”

Colorado is among just 10 states that currently allow medical aid in dying. Washington, D.C., does, too. 

Oregon was the first to drop its residency requirement, in 2022. Vermont followed in May. 

There are sure to be concerns raised about so-called aid-in-dying tourism in Colorado if the measure passes. But because the changes in Oregon and Vermont are so recent, there’s a dearth of data on whether removing the residency requirement affected the use of the aid-in-dying option in those states. 

Kim Callinan, the CEO of Compassion and Choices, a group that advocates for medical aid-in-dying legislation across the country, said fears that terminally ill patients would suddenly flood to Colorado if Senate Bill 68 passes are overstated.

“A person who is terminally ill and at the very end of their life — it takes a considerable amount of effort to get up and move to another state,” she said. 

Most states where medical aid in dying is legal have a waiting period of at least 15 days between when someone asks a medical professional to sign off on the end-of-life option and when they can get the medication…

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