Is Colorado about to become America’s third ‘suicide tourism’ state? A new law allows people to travel from anywhere in the U.S. for assisted death

Colorado is poised to become America’s third “suicide tourism” destination under a new bill being considered by the state Senate.

Assisted death is already legal in Colorado, but the new bill would allow terminally ill people from anywhere in the U.S. to travel to Colorado to end their lives — similar to laws already in place in Oregon and Vermont .

The bill would also give the green light for anyone authorized to end their life to do so within 48 hours of the request — instead of the 15 days currently required for Coloradans.

Campaigners have previously raised concerns about suicide tourism, warning that doctors ‘barely know’ the patients they prescribe it to.

Among those who used the measure to end their lives was Lynda Bluestein, 76, of Connecticut, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She died this year in Vermont after the state changed its laws to allow people from out of state to use its assisted dying facilities

Eight of the nine states that allow assisted dying are led by Democrats, as well as both states that allow people from other states to come to them to end their lives.

Oregon became the first suicide tourism destination in the US in 2022.

Official figures show that at least three people have since traveled to the state to end their lives there.

But experts say this figure is likely a vast underestimate because the vast majority of prescriptions for assisted dying do not list a person’s home address.

At the same time, the number of people using assisted dying in Oregon has reached a record high – with 431 prescriptions for the measure written in 2022.

This was an increase of 12 percent compared to the previous year and a doubling compared to five years ago.

Of those who were prescribed assisted death in 2022, a total of 278 followed the measure to end their lives.

The rest might not, because they changed their minds or died before they could use the facility.

There is no data yet on the number of people traveling to Vermont to end their lives.

Among those traveling to Vermont from other states was Lynda Bluestein, a 76-year-old from Connecticut with a terminal cancer diagnosis — who lobbied Vermont to relax restrictions on out-of-state assisted dying.

She traveled to Vermont this month to take her own life as her husband Paul describes his wife’s last moments as “comfortable and peaceful.”

He said her last words were, “I’m so glad I don’t have to do this (suffer) anymore.”

Colorado’s new law – called SB 24-068 – was proposed early this year by Democratic Senator Joann Ginal.

It has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which will consider the measure in late February.

The bill still has a long way to go before it becomes law. It must first be approved by the committee and voted on in the Senate before it can be approved in the House of Representatives. It will also have to be signed into law by Democratic Governor Jared Polis.

Only about a third of beneficiaries said they were concerned about a lack of “pain relief.” A worrying 17 patients said they took their own lives because they were worried about medical bills piling up.

In total, there have been 203 reportable events in the state since its legalization in 2013, with 73 percent of people choosing to die because they had cancer.

Colorado first approved assisted dying in 2016 in a statewide public vote.

Under the current provision, a person must be from the state and two doctors must agree that an adult is mentally competent to make the decision to end their life and has six months to live.

They must also submit the request twice, at least fifteen days apart, before they are prescribed the deadly cocktail of drugs.

If the new law passes, Colorado could also become at least third state to reduce the wait time to 48 hours – after California also reduced the wait time in 2022. Doctors in Oregon can also waive the 15-day waiting period if a patient is likely to die before that period ends.

But campaign groups are starting to raise concerns about making it easier to access assisted dying services.

The executive director of the campaign group Oregon Right to Life, Lois Anderson, said doctors increasingly wrote prescriptions last year for patients they had known for only a few days.

“The doctors who dispense these deadly prescriptions barely know their patients and often abandon them in the final moments of their lives,” they said.

‘They are increasingly absent, even when the lethal drugs are taken. That’s not a concern. That’s putting people through the ‘Death with Dignity’ machine.’

Anita Cameron, 57, said her mother was given just six months to live by doctors when she was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease. But the mother of four ignored the doctors and lived another twelve years and ten months

Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition co-executive director Julie Reiskin also suggested that speeding up the timeline could lead to people choosing to die when they despair over a diagnosis.

Mrs Reiskin, in conversation with the DenverPostrevealed her own experience – when she first became disabled, she thought she would rather die than use a wheelchair.

But over time, she added, she has found life as fulfilling as ever. She said, “That just feels way too fast.”

In another case, a mother of four with terminal lung disease revealed how she lived for almost 12 years after doctors said she would barely survive six months.

Alice Bozeman, now 72 years old and from Colorado, had ignored the suggestions in 2009, saying she was “too vulgar to die.” Ornery means stubborn, bad-tempered or belligerent, according to the Oxford English dictionary.

“I’m so grateful,” her daughter Anita Cameron told DailyMail.com. “We wouldn’t have had 11 more years and 10 months of my mother to see her grandchildren get married and have children.”

The daughter worries that America is now moving toward a Canadian-style euthanasia situation in which people with only one hearing loss can choose to end their lives.

However, advocates of assisted suicide programs say they help some desperately ill people end their suffering.

Data shows that most people who choose to end their lives are over 65 years old and suffer from cancer, heart or brain disease.

Another 18 states are considering legalizing assisted dying this year — including Tennessee, which could become the first Republican bastion to pass the measure.