
In Montana, we will have a booth at the NW Montana Fair & Rodeo, in Kalispell, August 14-18, 2019. Click here to read our event flyer to learn more.
“Self-administer” means a qualified patient’s act of ingesting medication to end his or her life . . . (Emphasis added)The act does not define “ingest.” Dictionary definitions include:
[T]o take (food, drugs, etc.) into the body, as by swallowing, inhaling, or absorbing.” (Emphasis added).With these definitions, someone else putting the lethal dose in the patient’s mouth qualifies as proper administration because the patient will be “swallowing” the lethal dose, i.e., “ingesting” it. Someone else placing a medication patch on the patient’s arm will qualify because the patient will be “absorbing” the lethal dose, i.e., “ingesting” it. Gas administration, similarly, will qualify because the patient will be “inhaling” the lethal dose, i.e., “ingesting” it. With self-administer defined as mere ingesting, someone else is allowed to administer the lethal dose to the patient.
"Euthanasia is the administration of a lethal agent by another person to a patient . . . " (Emphasis added).Washington's act allows euthanasia.