A new law in New Jersey takes effect Thursday and allows terminally ill patients to end their lives.
The “Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill” law lets New Jersey residents with a terminal illness request a prescription for medication to end their lives.
Under the new law, only patients who are irreversibly terminally ill and have a prognosis of six months or less to live could acquire the medication.
In April, New Jersey became the seventh state to enact such legislation. The others include California, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.
Montana does not have a law permitting medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill. However, a 2009 Montana Supreme Court ruling determined that nothing in state law prevented a physician from prescribing such a drug to a terminally ill person.
Earlier this year, lawmakers in Annapolis considered legalizing assisted suicide, but the “End of Life Option Act” did not pass the Senate. It failed “in dramatic fashion,” the Washington Post reported in March, after a tied vote 23-23 scuttled the bill.
In Virginia, Del. Kaye Kory, (D-Fairfax) introduced a bill in January to allow people with terminal conditions voluntarily end their lives, the Associated Press reported. However, that bill did not advance.
According to Virginia law, anyone who knowingly helps someone commit suicide can be held liable for their death. You can read more about the law here.
WTSP and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
