SB68 modifies Colorado’s assisted-suicide law by allowing advanced-practice nurses to prescribe life-ending medication and reducing the waiting period between oral requests from 15 days to 7 days (or waiving it if the prognosis is under 48 hours). The bill also reinforces health insurance protections and states that "medical aid-in-dying" must not impact federal funding.
The Colorado State House of Representatives passed SB68 on April 9, 2024 by a vote of 41 to 20. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill potentially opens the door for assisted suicide beyond terminally ill individuals. The right to life is a fundamental, God-given, unalienable right, as affirmed in the Declaration of Independence and protected by the 5th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Allowing any erosion of this right sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the sanctity of life.
