The Maine Death with Dignity Act (LD 1313) was signed into law by Governor Janet Mills on June 12, 2019. After over 6 years of experience and data in Maine, it is clear that many eligible patients are not able to access the law as a result of unnecessary regulatory requirements. The authorized jurisdictions are consistently recognizing that long waiting periods result in unnecessary suffering for dying people. Allowing a waiver of waiting periods does not reduce the core safeguards or change the strict eligibility criteria. In fact, five states with similar medical aid-in dying-laws have improved their laws over the last few years. After carefully evaluating how the current law is working in comparison to other authorized U.S. jurisdictions, some with over ten years of data, ME LD 613, proposes modifications to the law that will allow more eligible patients to access this compassionate end-of-life option while still protecting medically vulnerable populations.
This bill:
Allows attending providers to waive up to 10 days of the mandatory minimum waiting period if the patient is unlikely to survive it and meets all other qualifications. This bill will allow the attending physician to waive up to 10 days of the waiting period if, in the attending physician's medical opinion, it is in the best interests of the qualified patient, given the qualified patient's condition. If any of the waiting period is waived, the attending physician must add a note to the medical chart.
Additional Information About the Bill:
Primary Sponsors:
Representative Meyer and Senator Moore
