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District of Columbia
CURRENT STATUS: ENACTED
About
District of Columbia’s Death with Dignity Act passed in 2017.
Timeline of Death with Dignity in District of Columbia
2019
2019
Federal attempts to interfere with D.C. Law
The 2019 federal budget proposal from the U.S. House of Representatives again contains a rider attempting to repeal the D.C. Death with Dignity Act. The rider does not make it into law, and the Act remains fully intact.
2017
2017
Death with Dignity passes in Washington D.C.
The District of Columbia is the sixth jurisdiction in the U.S. to enact an assisted- dying statute. The D.C. Death with Dignity Act goes into effect on February 18, 2017 with implementation starting in June.
Federal lawmakers opposed to the D.C. law attempt to repeal it through a budget rider. Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) introduce companion resolutions, HJ Res. 27 and SJ Res. 4, disapproving of D.C.’s law. They were joined by 55 Representatives and 3 Senators.
The House version of the proposed 2018 federal budget contained a rider repealing the Act. The rider was left out of the Senate companion bill, and the budget passed without the rider.
