New doctor-assisted suicide law takes effect March 5 in Washington

Washington voters approved Initiative 1000 in November, which will allow physicians to legally prescribe lethal medication to competent, terminally ill patients given six months or less to live. The patient must be an adult Washington resident who voluntarily asks for the lethal drug and self-administers it. More than 110 hospice nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists, and other professionals recently attended a seminar on the subject sponsored by the Washington State Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, along with the Washington State End of Life Consensus Coalition.