A bipartisan group of lawmakers has sounded the alarm on physician-assisted suicide, arguing that the practice demands oversight to protect vulnerable patients and safeguard informed consent.
In a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, and led by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), lawmakers urged the Department of Health and Human Services to establish new reporting requirements for hospice programs. “The vast majority of patients receiving physician-assisted suicide are enrolled in hospice – 90% in Washington,” the letter reads. “This poses challenges for HHS and CMS’ regulation of patient health and safety within the hospice program.”
The letter expressed “grave informed consent issues” within the practice. “Only 0.5% of patients received mental health referrals, even though many physician-assisted suicide patients show signs of depression, which can impair the decision-making process.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined Lankford in leading the letter. The two were joined by Rep.s Greg Murphy (R-NC) and Lou Correa (D-CA).
“Every person has inherent worth and dignity, including those facing their final days,” Lankford wrote on X. “Hospice should be a place of compassion, comfort, and care, not a place where they feel quietly pressured to end their lives through assisted suicide. Federal law is clear that taxpayer dollars cannot pay for assisted suicide, and discrimination against the aged and disabled is prohibited.”
Thirteen U.S. states have legalized medically-assisted death, including California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
In Canada, nearly 100,000 people are estimated to have died through the country’s assisted suicide program. “According to Health Canada, from legalization until December 31, 2024 there were 76,475 Canadian MAiD [Medical Assistance in Dying] deaths. Based on my prediction that there were about 17,650 euthanasia deaths in 2025, I predict that there were around 94,125 MAiD deaths in Canada from legalization until December 31, 2025,” author Alex Schadenberg wrote. Schadenberg is the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. “I predict that Canada will surpass 100,000 euthanasia sometime in mid – late April 2026,” he added.
