Initiative 1000 passes 59% – 41%. The safety mechanism in place is you must have less than six months to live. Wow, scientific and medical progress can now predict within six months our time of death! (she said cynically). And more added safety features, since we don’t want to accidentally kill the wrong folk:

The measure would apply to patients who are mentally competent and have a life expectancy of less than six months. Patients would have to request the lethal dose once, then go through a 15-day waiting period, then make the request again both orally and in writing.

Two doctors must approve the request, and the patient must be the one to take the dose (it can’t be administered by a doctor).


Here is the full text of the Washington “Death with Dignity” Act.

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.