Updated on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 at 9:40 a.m.
This November, West Virginia voters will decide whether or not to change the state’s constitution to prohibit medically assisted suicide.
While West Virginia’s Amendment 1 lumps “the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person” together, they are different practices.
Assisted dying can take two forms: euthanasia or assisted suicide.
Euthanasia requires a physician to take an action to cause a patient’s death, typically a form of lethal injection. Euthanasia is not legal in the U.S., with the exception of capital punishment in the 27 U.S. states that allow the death penalty.
For an assisted suicide, a physician will prescribe a lethal prescription for the patient to self-administer whenever and wherever they choose.
Assisted suicide is legal in ten states and the District of Columbia. Internationally, the practice is legal in several European countries, Canada, Columbia and parts of Australia.
Requirements differ, but generally, individuals must have a terminal illness as well as a prognosis of six months or less to live to be eligible.
A 2022 study found 74 percent of medically assisted deaths in the U.S. had a diagnosis of cancer and 87 percent were enrolled in hospice or palliative care.
Assisted suicide is already illegal in West Virginia, but Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, believes the prohibition of the practice should be enshrined in the constitution of the state.
“Medically assisted suicide and euthanasia against men and women is storming the Western world, all we have to do is take a look at northern Europe, Canada and the 10 other states where it’s already legal,” McGeehan said. “It’s growing at an exponential rate, and it’s really a horde nihilistic phenomenon that most people aren’t aware of yet, and that was one of the reasons, because we really need to secure our state against this going forward in the future.”
During the regular session of the legislature, McGeehan, a sponsor of the resolution that turned into Amendment 1, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 4 that he was inspired to push for this constitutional prohibition after a constituent called and asked him to legalize medically assisted suicide in West Virginia.
McGeehan testified that he declined the request, but maintained correspondence with the constituent and tried to convince them not to travel to another state to carry out a medically assisted suicide.
Rusty Williams, the ACLU of West Virginia’s interim advocacy director, takes issue with McGeehan’s response to his constituent.
“The important part of the conversation is [that] our lawmakers are, they’re running counter to what we want,” Williams said.
The constituent eventually traveled to Oregon and passed away, spurring McGeehan into action.
Some lawmakers were concerned the resolution might prohibit capital punishment should it become legal in West Virginia. Therefore, the resolution was amended to include the caveat, “Nothing in this section prevents the State from providing capital punishment.”
When asked by lawmakers on the committee why he wanted to enshrine this prohibition into law, McGeehan said he and his fellow lawmakers will not always be in power, and he wants to prevent future lawmakers from legalizing the practice.
“The thought process is that we’re not always going to be here, and I don’t want to see in 10 years, suddenly this culture invade West Virginia like it has some of our border states already,” McGeehan testified.
On July 26, the ACLU of West Virginia published its opposition to Amendment 1, calling it unnecessary. Williams finds the proposed amendment deeply concerning.
“Our constitution exists to protect and expand rights, and I find it incredibly concerning that this is to take away a future right,” Williams said. “Medical aid in dying is already illegal in West Virginia. There’s already a statutory prohibition here. So enshrining it into the constitution, to me, runs counter to why the constitution exists in the first place.”
Williams said popular opinion in West Virginia might change, as it has nationally. A 2018 Gallop poll found that 72 percent of Americans support allowing terminally ill people to seek medical assistance in ending their own lives.
“A no vote doesn’t make any immediate changes to the lives of patients,” Williams said. “They’re still not going to be able to access this right because of the statutory prohibition. A yes vote just means that we are going to make it harder for legislatures down the road to again, if the will of the people changes.”
On Sept. 16, the League of Women Voters of West Virginia released a statement urging voters to reject Amendment 1.
“West Virginia already has laws on the books having to do with this,” said Judy Ball, chair of the League’s Legislative Action Workgroup. “This is not something new. That’s one of the problems with this amendment is it deals with issues that we already have dealt with in statute, and then it’s written in extremely vague terms, possibly to confuse the voter.”
Ball also said the league opposes Amendment 1 as it relates to capital punishment.
“The other thing is this amendment includes this reference to the death penalty, another thing that’s already in West Virginia law,” Ball said. “It was prohibited by West Virginia law going back to 1965, the league also opposes the death penalty. Why that’s in here? I have no idea, but it suggests that, to me, it suggests that what’s written into this amendment isn’t really what it’s about.”
Ball said she believes Amendment 1 is about control and an attempt by the government to intervene in decisions that should be personal.
“The legislature wants the government to control your life, to practice medicine without a license, and to intervene in places they don’t belong,” Ball said.
McGeehan believes that medically assisted suicide creates a setting where pressure is placed upon the elderly and disabled to see themselves as a burden.
“We want to send a signal to the rest of the country that we’re not going to stand for this nihilism and this dystopian nightmare that’s rapidly spreading across our country to save health care costs by killing the elderly, and we want to ensure that it never gains a foothold here in our state in the future, we want to send a signal that this should be the gold standard,” McGeehan said.
Election Day is November 5th.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include the source for McGeehan’s statement about saving health care costs.
