• Michigan House Democrats introduced a ‘Death with Dignity’ bill package that would allow terminally ill patients to request life-ending medication
• The bills face long odds with Republican leadership, who have voiced skepticism about the practice
• Supporters say safeguards keep patients in control of how they die. Critics worry about increased use of lethal drug dosages

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Laws that would allow doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients are being considered once again in Michigan.

House Democrats unveiled a package of bills last month to create a “Death with Dignity Act,” following a similar effort in the previous term by Senate Democrats to legalize physician-assisted death in the state.

Similar laws cover more than 100 million Americans in 14 states. 

State Rep. Carrie Rheingans, D-Ann Arbor, a co-sponsor of the House package, said the bills would bring “more medical choice” to patients.

“The point … is not to shorten somebody’s life. It’s actually to shorten somebody’s death process,” Rheingans told Bridge Michigan.

The bills have been referred to the House Government Operations Committee, a move that shows Republican leadership isn’t interested in taking up the legislation, Rheingans said. With her party in the minority, she said her caucus has more time to devote to education and advocacy.

House Republicans like state Rep. Matthew Bierlein, R-Vassar, oppose the legislation, calling it a morally questionable “fringe proposal” that lacks the buy-in of health care professionals.

Related:

• Michigan Democrats eye legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill
• Opinion | Right-to-die legislation must consider concerns of African Americans 
• Federal grant revives Michigan farmer suicide prevention program — for now

In its code of medical ethics, the American Medical Association calls physician-assisted suicide “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.” The Michigan State Medical Society states it opposes legislation governing the practice under the belief it interferes with the patient/physician relationship.

Polling suggests attitudes in the US are changing about medical aid in dying, with support across the political spectrum. About 6 in 10 Americans view physician-assisted death as either morally acceptable or not a moral issue, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

Last year, Illinois became the first midwest state to adopt laws allowing doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients. New York similarly adopted legislation in 2025, joining the ranks of states like California, Colorado and Montana.

‘Hastening their death’

After Oregon passed a citizen’s initiative to legalize medical aid in dying in 1994, there have been several attempts to codify the practice in Michigan.

Voters rejected a state ballot proposal in 1998 to legalize the prescription of lethal medication to help terminally ill, competent, informed adults commit suicide in Michigan, with 71% voting against the initiative.

The state was home to one of the nation’s foremost proponents of physician-assisted suicide.

Royal Oak pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who died in 2011, aided in the deaths of dozens of terminally ill patients. Noted in the national press as “Dr. Death,” Kevorkian was convicted and served a partial term for the second-degree murder of a Detroit man with ALS whose death was broadcast on “60 Minutes.”

‘In the hands of the patient’

Kevorkian’s physician-led methods and machines cannot be utilized under any of the legal frameworks in the US today, according to Geoff Sugarman, a strategist for the national Death with Dignity campaign. States who adopted the legislation, he said, have put control of the process “in the hands of the patient, as opposed to in the hands of the doctor.”

Under Michigan’s proposed bills, Sugarman said patients have multiple layers of protection: 

• Their terminal illness with a six-month prognosis must be confirmed by two licensed physicians before a prescription is made
• They must be a mentally competent adult able to self-administer and ingest the medication independently
• Their request must be observed by two witnesses, and at least one of the witnesses cannot be a family member or entitled to the patient’s estate
• They can revoke their request at any time 

Sugarman said offering patients choice can give them a sense of control in how they navigate a condition that will inevitably lead to their deaths. 

“In the case of a terminally ill patient within six months of death, they’re not necessarily ending their life — they’re hastening their death,” Sugarman said.

At least 11,900 patients in the US have used medical aid in dying, according to public reports analyzed by Death with Dignity, an Oregon-based advocacy group.

A cautionary tale

Opponents to the bills worry the policy puts the administration of lethal drug dosages on the same footing as other forms of treatment, adding new cost-benefit pressures on patients, their doctors, facilities and insurers.

“We want to alleviate the suffering without eliminating the person who suffers,” said Genevieve Marnon, the legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan. “We have been proponents of good hospice and palliative care and good adequate pain medication and management.”

Marnon points to Canada, whose medical assistance in dying practices began in 2016, as a cautionary tale. More than 16,000 Canadians used assisted dying in 2024, representing 5.1% of all deaths in the country that year and the largest count since legalization.

While the Death with Dignity campaign says Canada’s medical assistance in dying laws are more expansive than those in the US, critics like Marnon say they represent a   “natural progression” to future practice and cautions against its adoption in Michigan.

“That’s a significant policy position,” Marnon said. “You need to think through all of the ramifications.”

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