Are People in Colorado Taking Advantage of Their Right to Die?

Last November, Colorado voters chose to sanction physician-assisted suicide, so are people taking advantage of their right to die?

To qualify for the Colorado right-to-die law, a person must have a terminal diagnosis of six months or less to live and have two doctors deem them to be of sound mind and capable of making this decision.

According to a report in the Pueblo Chieftain, we won't know exactly how many prescriptions of fatal medication have been filled until the end of the year, but it's estimated that 10 such prescriptions have been filled in Colorado in 2017.

Although assisted suicide is now legal in Colorado, many hospitals and doctors choose not to participate in the practice, making it a challenge for the terminally ill person who wants to end their life.

The state of California has had a right-to-die law in effect since June of 2016 and so far 191 people have been given life-ending medication.

It's likely the Colorado numbers will grow as time goes by, but so far the takers have been few. There are strong feelings on both sides of this issue, but the majority has spoken and the number of assisted deaths in Colorado can only grow in the coming years. So far, apparently not many people have been interested in taking advantage of their right to die.