OLYMPIA, Washington (LifeSiteNews) — The state of Washington has announced it will no longer release data on its assisted suicides, sparking concerns over the resulting risk of abuses that would worsen what is already a gravely immoral practice.
The Washington State Department of Health website has posted a notice on its website stating that “due to funding cuts,” it has halted its so-called “Death with Dignity Program,” meaning that while eligible patients may still commit assisted suicide, reports documenting the practice will no longer be released.
The health agency said it has made the “difficult decision” to discontinue its assisted suicide report so that staff can focus on “prioritiz[ing] patient safety and other critical work,” according to The Telegraph.
“A 2024 annual statistical report will not be released. The most recent available data year is 2023,” states the Washington Health website.
This new norm raises questions about compliance with Washington law, since the so-called “Death with Dignity Act” requires that the department of health “collect information and make an annual statistical report available to the public (RCW 70.245.150),” as past reports state.
LifeSiteNews has reached out to the Washington Department of Health for comment but has not received a response by the time of publishing.
Assisted suicide reports tally the number of those who have been received lethal prescriptions, as well as the number of those who have died after ingesting these substances. This leaves, as Live Action has noted, a considerable number of prescriptions that are unaccounted for and possibly given to others or even accidentally ingested.
For example, in Oregon, since assisted suicide was legalized in 1997, a total of 4,881 prescriptions for lethal drugs have been written, but only a recorded 3,243 people, accounting for 66 percent of these prescriptions, died from ingesting the lethal pills.
While Washington has stopped recording the complications that may accompany death by assisted suicide, such as seizures, in its last 2023 report, it continued to record the time between lethal drug ingestion and loss of consciousness, as well as the time between ingestion and death.
The report also identifies the concerns that led to the decision to commit assisted suicide, such as the fear of loss of autonomy or loss of dignity. However, only terminally ill adults considered by their doctors to have six months or less to live are eligible for assisted suicide in Washington.
Assisted suicide reports in Washington, Oregon, and other states show that a portion of patients who acquired a prescription for lethal drugs outlived their doctor’s prognosis.
Rebecca Vachon, the director for Health at Cardus, decried the abandonment of assisted suicide public reports, warning that a lack of public reporting on assisted suicide can obscure the factors leading to assisted suicide in the first place.
“When the state plays a role in the premature deaths of its own citizens, transparency isn’t optional – it’s essential. But without full, accessible data on assisted suicide, the public can’t know whether cases are rising or falling, or if vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected,” said Vachon.
“So, this isn’t just a data issue; it’s a question of life and death. If anything needs to be cut, it’s assisted suicide itself – not the public’s right to know.”
