The Montana Supreme Court issued a muddled decision a few years ago ruling that assisted suicide was not against the public policy of the state under the law that deals with advance directives. That didn’t actually legalize doctor-prescribed suicide, but left the state of the law in a big mess.
Now, HB 505 is being debated in the Montana House that may formally outlaw the act in the state. Some are upset that the law could result in physicians who assist suicides being jailed–as if that is a radical notion. Such is the law today in most states. The real radical notion is that assisting suicide should be considered a medical act.
For more information, here’s the Montanans Against Assisted Suicide Website.