Committee not yet ready to act on assisted suicide proposal

State Sen. Jo Comerford speaks at an event in support of medical aid in dying legislation, while an opponent of the controversial policy holds up a sign behind the podium on Tuesday. 

State Sen. Jo Comerford speaks at an event in support of medical aid in dying legislation, while an opponent of the controversial policy holds up a sign behind the podium on Tuesday.  SHNS/CHRIS LISINSKI

An opponent of medical aid in dying attempts to holds up a sign criticizing the controversial policy at an event hosted by supporters on Tuesday. 

An opponent of medical aid in dying attempts to holds up a sign criticizing the controversial policy at an event hosted by supporters on Tuesday.  SHNS/CHRIS LISINSKI

By CHRIS LISINSKI

State House News Service

Published: 06-04-2025 12:17 PM

Representatives on one legislative committee are not ready to decide whether one of the most controversial proposals on their plate should move forward early in the lawmaking term.

Legislators last week asked for a 30-day extension on a bill that would authorize physician-assisted suicide (H 2505), according to the House clerk’s office, keeping it idling in the Public Health Committee through a Tuesday event that drew both supporters and opponents of the long-debated policy.

Backers of the proposal, which has stalled out without a House or Senate vote for multiple terms in a row, argued they made “historic progress” last session by winning support from both the Public Health Committee and Health Care Financing Committee.

In its first hearing of the 2025-2026 term, the Public Health Committee solicited testimony on the bill, which the panel said started a new 60-day clock for action on all House bills on the agenda. Melissa Stacy, northeast regional advocacy manager for Compassion and Choices, said that early hearing suggests “momentum is continuing this session.”

“Terminally ill people in Massachusetts are dying with needless, unbearable pain and suffering. Hospice and palliative care are incredible programs, but they cannot alleviate all pain and suffering for all people,” Stacy said. “The end of life options act puts the choice to alleviate unbearable suffering in the hands of the terminally ill patients where it belongs.”

Like they did last year, about a dozen opponents of the bill once again gathered at the State House advocacy event attended by roughly 50 supporters. Organizers briefly interacted with one opponent and appeared to attempt to block the view of his sign, which read “Say NO to assisted suicide,” before backing off when a pair of lawmakers came over to chat.

The protesters stood silently for the duration of the event, holding signs in the corners of Nurses Hall or directly behind the podium so that symbols of both support and opposition were visible to all onlookers.

As she stepped up to speak, bill co-author Sen. Jo Comerford thanked opponents for their presence.

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“This is not an easy conversation to have, yet in this State House, we welcome democratic engagement, we welcome debate, we welcome dissent,” the Northampton Democrat said. “If we weren’t asking important questions about whether or not assisted suicide could be made safe — and I do believe it’s made safe in this bill, I do believe that — we wouldn’t be doing our jobs. This is too important a bill for us not to engage seriously with, so you are welcome here.”

“If there are ways to make this stronger, let’s do it together, friends. We are not railroading this bill through the State House,” she added.

Some disability advocacy groups continue to fight the idea, arguing that legalizing medical aid in dying could expose vulnerable patients to discrimination or coercion.

“We’re concerned about medical mistakes, insurance denial, people who feel like a burden. That’s one of the main reasons that people use [medical aid in dying], to save money for their heirs,” John Kelly, director of opposition group Second Thoughts MA, said.

The bill, a version of which is also filed in the Senate (S 1486), would allow mentally sound adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live to “voluntarily make an oral request for medical aid in dying and a prescription for medication that the patient can choose to self-administer to bring about a peaceful death.”

For years, the topic has generated intense, emotional debate. Voters in 2012 narrowly rejected a ballot question by a margin of 51% to 49% that would have authorized an earlier medical aid in dying proposal.

Matt Vallière, executive director of the Patients Rights Action Fund group, said he believes top House and Senate Democrats are “actually quite divided” about the proposal.

“This is not a priority issue for the party, and so why would you split the party in a dogfight on the floor over a non-priority issue?” Vallière told the News Service.

Supporters will need to wait up to a month longer to learn if the House bill will again advance through the Public Health Committee.

The House adopted rules reforms this term instructing House chairs of joint committees to make final reports on timely filed bills within 60 calendar days of a hearing. Those top-ranking representatives can seek an additional 30 days, after which the House would need to grant unanimous consent on a further extension order.

The extension pushes the due date for action under House rules to July 1.