Recently, in a case that was litigated before the New York Court of Appeals, that Court ruled that terminally ill patients do not have the right to seek life-ending drugs from doctors. The case was initiated by three people with terminal illnesses who argued that New York’s ban on physician-assisted dying should not apply to people who are seeking a merciful end to an incurable disease. The Court held that while the law allows terminally ill patients to decline life-sustaining help, it does not permit anyone – whether it be a physician or anyone else – to help those same patients end their lives.
Currently, there are six states that permit physician-assisted dying. They are Colorado, Vermont, Washington, California, Oregon and Montana. The District of Columbia also allows it. Oregon is the state where physician-assisted dying has been in place the longest. In 1994, that state enacted the "Death with Dignity Act" and it has been in place ever since then.
The medical community is torn on this issue. One the one hand, some doctors feel that physician-assisted dying should be optional for people with terminal illnesses. They argue that people in this situation want to have control over their own bodies and their own lives and they are generally concerned about the future physical, emotional and mental distress associated with the progression of their disease. On the other hand, some doctors argue that pursuant to the Hippocratic Oath, doctors should only heal and not do any harm to their patients. These doctors argue that if they were compelled to take part in physician-assisted dying, then they would be relegated to simply following the will of the patient or perhaps third parties (like insurance companies) or the law. Further, they argue that they would not be practicing medicine … instead, doctors would merely be providing a medical service that goes against the oath they took to heal their patients.
Where does Connecticut stand on this issue? In 2014, a bill entitled "An Act Concerning Compassionate Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill" failed to pass in the Connecticut Legislature. In April of 2015 it was brought before the Connecticut Legislature for the second time and again, it failed to pass. The bill was vigorously opposed by pro-life groups on the theory that the sanctity of life is a principle that should continue to be protected by the law. On January 19, 2017, a bill entitled "An Act Concerning Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients" was introduced to the Connecticut Legislature for the third time. Right after its introduction, it was referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health. Currently, there has been no further movement on that bill … it is still pending with the Joint Committee on Public Health.
It’s anyone’s guess as to when or whether Connecticut will enact this legislation. Undoubtedly, this issue is not going away any time soon. If you would like to know more about physician-assisted dying in Connecticut, please don’t hesitate to contact the estate planning attorneys at Cipparone & Zaccaro. We’d be happy to provide you with a draft of the pending legislation and answer any questions you may have about this sensitive topic.
