The new rules allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to evaluate patients for assisted suicide. Before, only doctors could do so. Additionally, the new rules shorten the waiting period to receive lethal drugs from 20 days to 5. The waiting period can be as short as 48 hours if the APRN determines the patient would die within 5 days.
“There aren’t many physicians that would help the patient to make that choice,” Hawaii Sen. Joy San Buenaventura said. “So, by increasing the ability of a patient to have an APRN prescribing is helpful. We also shortened the waiting time, because doctors, understandably, are not going to give the prescription drugs unless they know death is imminent. And patients need to get the prescription earlier to relieve them from the suffering, so we reduced the waiting time from 20 days to five days.”
The practice of assisted suicide allows medical professionals to prey on the vulnerable and suffering. Laws like Hawaii's pressure patients into suicide rather than options like palliative care.
It's become a trend that states shorten waiting periods a few years after legalizing assisted suicide. Similar laws were passed in Washington and California within the last year.
