(Oregon Right to Life) — After 15 years of legal assisted suicide, Washington State announced a “pause” on its annual “Death With Dignity” data, though lethal prescriptions will continue under the law. The move comes in spite of a state statute mandating reporting of assisted suicide numbers, a fact that one prominent pro-life advocate says points to the typical erosion of regulations around so-called “Death With Dignity.”
On July 19, pro-assisted suicide activist Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD, wrote that the Washington State Department of Health had announced on its website that it would pause its annual “Death With Dignity” reporting.
“There will be no more reports on how many patients are using MAID in Washington. No more demographic information about these patients,” Pope said. “Some states are slow in publishing their data… Other states have not published any data for over a year or more. But only Montana has never even promised to provide public data. Now Washington will similarly provide no public data.”
According to the DOH announcement, the decision was made due to budget constraints.
“Following the 2025 General Legislative Session, the Department of Health (DOH) made the difficult decision to pause the annual statistical reporting for the Death with Dignity program,” the DOH said on its website, adding: “This decision is part of broader budget reductions…”
The government agency said that a “final report for the 2024 data year will be published” and that assisted suicides will still take place under the law, though without public reporting. The DOH did not address the fact that Washington’s state statute mandates that the DOH “generate and make available to the public an annual statistical report of information collected.”
The announcement did not indicate when or if annual reporting will resume in the future.
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Opponents of assisted suicide have frequently argued that “Death With Dignity” regulations that supposedly safeguard patient autonomy and safety are commonly loosened or ignored over time.
Wesley Smith, a prominent writer and speaker who opposes legal assisted suicide, argued that Washington State’s recent decision is another example of this phenomenon.
“The legalization law requires annual reports to be issued by the state to promote transparency,” he said in an article published by National Review. “Well, from now on, opaqueness will be the order of the day.”
“Just remember: when activists tell you they want strict controls on assisted suicide to induce you to go along, they don’t mean it,” Smith said. “Their goal is to effectuate wide-open euthanasia through incrementalism — a tactic that begins almost as soon as the laws go into effect.”
A lack of transparency about Washington’s assisted suicide numbers has raised concerns among pro-life advocates. National pro-life advocacy organization and outlet Live Action pointed to “troubling data” that “has indicated exactly why these reports need to be released — because the drugs being dispensed in assisted suicide often cannot be accounted for.”
According to Washington State’s most recent report, 545 people “participated with the Death With Dignity program” in 2023. 427 died after ingesting the drugs, 41 died without taking the drugs, and ingestion status is unknown for the remaining individuals.
In Oregon, assisted suicide numbers continue to rise and ingestion status is similarly unknown for a notable percentage.
According to Oregon’s latest annual report for its “Death With Dignity” (DWDA) law, released in March, physicians in Oregon wrote 607 DWDA prescriptions in 2024, up from 561 in 2023. 376 individuals are known to have died after consuming the drugs last year. Ingestion status for 29% of patients was reportedly unknown as of the time of the report.
In total, assisted suicide deaths accounted for nearly one in every one hundred Oregon deaths in 2024.
READ: Oregon Assisted Suicide Prescriptions Increased 8% Last Year After 30% Spike in 2023
“Legal assisted suicide sends a harsh message that our state believes some lives – especially the elderly, disabled, and medically complex – are less worth living,” Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson said at the time. “Real dignity and compassion is shown in love, care, and support – not in offering death as a solution.”
Washington State was the second U.S. state to legalize assisted suicide when it enacted its “Death With Dignity” statute in 2008. Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice, with its law taking effect in 1997.
