Compassion & Choices: Critical Moments in Life and Critical Moment in the Montana House Judiciary Committee

There was a 10–9 vote, recently, in the Montana House Judiciary Committee that moved HB 284 into the State House for further consideration. Compassion & Choices, an organization devoted to end of life choices, reported this as a critical moment and argued for the — and demanded the — shutting down of the “Physician Imprisonment Act” on the floor.

They asked, “Will you donate right now to help keep the pressure on legislators and protect medical aid in dying in Montana?”

This HB 284 is considered one in a long string of assaults on the medical aid in dying seen with Montana. It is one of the bills to undercut a landmark decision authorizing the practice with the state: Baxter v. Montana.

The direct meaning of HB 284 and others would lead to the prescribing of medical aid-in-dying medication by physicians to their patients would be prosecutable as homicide, murder, and would, in essence, permit the extension of needless suffering.

HB 284 is the latest in a series of long-standing attacks on medical aid in dying in Montana, Scott. This bill would undercut Baxter v. Montana (the landmark decision that authorized the practice in the state), make physicians who prescribe medical aid-in-dying medication to their patients vulnerable to prosecution for homicide and extend needless suffering.

“Not only that, but this bill marks the fifth time our opposition has tried to strip away Montanans’ access to medical aid in dying, and with your support, we’ve beat them back every time,” Compassion & Choices reported, “But, we haven’t defeated HB 284 yet. Our opposition is well-funded, relentless and committed to seeing medical aid in dying criminalized in Montana. That means we can’t afford to let up — not even for one second.”