HB 1141, the bill to expand part of the state's assisted suicide law, recently failed to gain the support it needed for passage. The sponsor, Rep. Skyler Rude (R), is now asking for $200,000 in the budget to conduct a study of the proposal.
Mark Miloscia, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW), says the purpose of doing the study is to support expansion.
"He's going to have this study that's going to come up with frankly the answers he wants," Miloscia submits. "It's being used to bolster him bringing the bill back next year."
He predicts the study will especially support a couple of areas.
"The main area was there was a 15-day waiting period; he wants that reduced down to three," Miloscia notes. "It's funny -- guns are being treated the opposite; Oh, we need to lengthen cooling off times or times to delay buying a gun, but for committing suicide, we want it less."
Another provision would allow non-doctors like nurses to kill patients.
The FPIW spokesman says Washington is following the lead of countries and other U.S. states that are liberalizing laws so that assisted suicide will eventually be so permissive that the government will be allowed to, for example, kill coma patients.
The Washington Legislature meets until June.
