The Montana House of Representatives today rejected SB 136 in a bipartisan 42-58 vote in its second reading, ending its potential for passage in the 2025 legislative session. The bill would have charged physicians with homicide for providing the option of medical aid in dying to qualifying adults. A bill to criminalize medical aid in dying in Montana has been introduced and rejected each legislative session for more than 15 years. Notably, today’s defeat had the highest number of Republican lawmakers in opposition to the bill, with 16 Republican Representatives voting against its passage.  

“We applaud the bipartisan coalition in the House of Representatives which came together across the aisle to rightfully strike down this draconian bill today. This vote honors the will of nearly 90% of Montana voters across the political spectrum who are against criminalizing physicians who prescribe the compassionate option of medical aid in dying,” said Callie Riley, Regional Advocacy Director for Compassion & Choices Action Network. “We implore the misguided lawmakers who continue to bring this bill each session to enact legislation their constituents want, rather than continue the deplorable attack on medical professionals and terminally ill Montanans.” 

“We are so grateful to the Representatives who listened to their constituents today. This is an incredible day for the advocates and volunteers in Montana. We would not have been able to defeat SB 136 without the tireless work of our dedicated advocates and volunteers.,” said Charmaine Manansala, Chief Advocacy Officer for Compassion & Choices Action Network. “We will remain vigilant to defend people in Montana, and across the nation, against further attempts to rob them of their end-of-life options and patient autonomy.”

Just before the failing vote, many Representatives of both parties spoke out in opposition to SB 136, including Reps. Curtis Cochran, Melody Cunningham, Julie Darling, and Tracy Sharp. Rep. Darling also authored and sponsored HB 637, a bill to codify medical aid in dying in Montana, which failed to pass out of the House Judiciary Committee on February 28 despite bipartisan support.  

Representatives Melody Cunningham (top) and Julie Darling (bottom) speak in opposition to SB 136 on April 9

“I have great respect for the carrier of this bill, and find that I still must rise in strong opposition to SB 136,” said Rep. Cunningham to her colleagues on the floor. “My concerns can be summed up in three words: compassion, criminalization, and constituents.

Organizations in public opposition to SB 136 include the ACLU of Montana, Big Sky 55+, Bozeman Health, Hestia Advantage, Montanans for Choice, the Montana Hospital Association, and Us for Autonomy.

Throughout the months of debate, the Montana medical community’s presence in opposition to SB 136 has been palpable, represented by current and retired physicians, registered nurses, mental health professionals, hospice and palliative care workers, and others. 

“I grew up in Montana. It’s always been a place that values freedom, personal responsibility, and individual rights, and this bill flies in the face of those values,” testified Maurika Moore before the House Judiciary Committee on March 18. Moore is a Missoula death doula, chaplain, and fifth-generation Montanan who founded and testified on behalf of Hestia Advantage, a home hospice and palliative care provider. “This bill is not about protecting patients, it’s about taking away our ability to make personal, private, and deeply personal decisions about our own suffering.”

“Fear is a reaction, and courage is a decision,” testified chaplain Joseph Carver on behalf of Bozeman Health before the House Judiciary Committee on March 18 . “What is needed now is your courage to uphold Montana law that has been in place for 16 years. A law that provides, at its core, Montana’s commitment to privacy, enshrined in our constitution, and in medical decisions.”

Pamela Brown, a Manhattan hospice and palliative care nurse who was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness, pleaded with the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the bill in a public hearing on January 30. “All I know is that I want the chance to guide my death as I see fit. Please don’t take that away from me. Please uphold our current freedom,” Brown testified.

Other opposing advocates included attorneys, faith leaders, educators, death doulas, hospice providers, social workers, people living with terminal illnesses, family members of those who have died with and without medical aid in dying, and lawmakers, including state Rep. Julie Darling, state Senator Margaret MacDonald, former state legislator Dick Barrett, and Ron Waterman, the husband of former state senator Mignon Waterman, who died with pancreatic cancer in 2017 after being prescribed aid-in-dying meds, but did not use them. 

Medical aid in dying has been authorized in Montana since 2009, as a result of the Montana Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit, Baxter v. Montana, filed by Compassion & Choices on behalf of Bob Baxter, a Billings Marine veteran and long-haul truck driver who was suffering from lymphocytic leukemia. The ruling found that “[The] Rights of the Terminally Ill Act clearly provides that terminally ill patients are entitled to autonomous end-of-life decisions.”

Sadly, Baxter died the very day the judges ruled in his favor – without the option of medical aid in dying that he fought for – and was unconscious when the phone call came to notify him of the court’s decision. Eight years later, his 36-year-old grandson, TJ Mutchler, was able to utilize medical aid in dying to peacefully end his suffering from terminal metastatic pancreatic cancer in 2017.

Medical aid in dying is authorized in 10 states (including Montana) and Washington, D.C., representing more than one out of five U.S. residents (22%). Oregon was the first state to implement the medical practice over 25 years ago in 1997.

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