Oregon bill would reduce administrative burden for patients seeking physician assisted death

Terminally ill people who want their doctors’ help in dying could do so twice as quickly under an Oregon bill that would cut the waiting period between asking for a lethal dose of medication from 15 days to seven.

Oregon is one of 11 states and Washington, D.C., that allow terminally ill individuals to choose to end their lives by asking a physician for a lethal dose of medication. Only adults who are given six months to live and who can effectively communicate for themselves can elect for physician-assisted death. In 2023, the state removed a residency requirement, enabling people from other states to travel to Oregon to die.

Patients must make two oral requests to their physician for the medication, each separated by at least 15 days. But Senate Bill 1003 , as amended, would cha