Four disability rights organizations and a Littleton woman are challenging Colorado’s medical aid-in-dying law, arguing it discriminates against people with disabilities by allowing them to die by suicide instead of preventing it.
The complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, argues that the law’s requirement that someone have a terminal illness to access lethal medication means that only people with disabilities will receive a prescription — rather than a referral to suicide prevention services. It also says the law’s requirement that providers discuss alternatives to dying is inadequate.
Plaintiff Mary Grossman, 26, said she feared being “steered” toward the medical aid-in-dying option if she needed hospital care again for her anorexia and depression. Grossman’s illnesses currently are under control, according to the lawsuit.
The medical aid-in-dying law doesn’t automatically require a mental health assessment, unless the provider has concerns that the patient may not be competent enough to seek lethal medication.
The law “assumes that a request for assisted suicide is not an indication of a mental disorder, when other Colorado laws make precisely the opposite assumption for virtually everyone else,” the complaint says.
The other plaintiffs are the United Spinal Association, a group called Not Dead Yet, the Institute for Patients’ Rights and Atlantis ADAPT.
The Colorado Attorney General’s Office, the state medical board, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis declined to comment, saying they don’t speak about pending litigation.
Voters approved Proposition 106 in 2016, creating Colorado’s medical aid-in-dying program. Last year, lawmakers shortened the waiting time to one week, down from at least 15 days, for people who are expected to die in the next six months. An exception allows for an immediate prescription if a provider believes the patient would die naturally in the next 48 hours.
The state health department reported 510 people received a prescription for medical aid-in-dying in 2024. The most common condition listed was cancer, which affected 58% of those who qualified for the medication. Eighteen people received a prescription because of “severe protein calorie malnutrition,” which could include eating disorders.
Last year, 313 people opted to pick up the medication, and 429 people who received a prescription died. Both numbers could include people who qualified the previous year. The tally of those who died included people who opted not to take the prescription and died of natural causes.
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