Colorado sees steady increase in physician-assisted suicides

Physician-assisted suicides are on the rise in Colorado.

Colorado approved the practice by referendum, 65% to 35%, in 2016, and the number of assisted suicides has steadily increased.

Colorado had 164 assisted suicides in 2021, 249 in 2022 and 294 in 2023, a 79% increase over just two years, according to Life News. Similarly, there were 218 assisted suicide prescriptions written in 2021, 318 in 2022, and 389 in 2023, a 78% increase over two years. 

The state’s 2024 assisted suicide data is not yet available. 

Amid this rise in deaths, Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 24-068 into law last June, expanding the practice. Most Democratic legislators supported the proposal. Most Republicans opposed it. 

The new law cut the waiting period between oral requests and assisted suicides from 15 days to just seven, allowed waiting period waivers for certain patients, and allowed advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe assisted suicide in addition to physicians. 

Not all Democrats have been on board, however. 

Democrats for Life of Colorado President Thomas Perille said the expansion would cause more harm than good. 

“By making access to [assisted suicide] easier, we will be promoting this ableist message,” he wrote in a Colorado Sun op-ed. 

“As assisted suicide is normalized, the explicit or implicit message to consider it will increase among vulnerable Coloradans,” he wrote. “What starts out as a ‘right’ becomes an obligation nurtured by the medical community and changing public attitudes. What is often overlooked, if not purposely ignored, is that a significant percentage of people seeking PAS are depressed.” 

Assisted suicide is legal in 10 states, primarily Democratic ones. 

Other states have expanded the scope of their law after legalizing it. 

For example, Vermont dropped its residency requirement in 2023, allowing out-of-staters to come to end their lives. Oregon did the same in 2022. 

Canada legalized assisted suicide in 2016, and it became the fifth-leading cause of death by 2022. Assisted suicides rose from 1,018 in 2016 to 13,241 in 2022.