To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to prohibit the Council of the District of Columbia from enacting any law to permit euthanasia and assisted suicide in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill preempts District of Columbia assisted-suicide policy. It amends section 602(a) of the D.C. Home Rule Act to prohibit the D.C. Council from enacting any act, resolution, rule, regulation, guidance, or other law that permits a person to carry out, or reduces penalties for, activity covered by section 3(a) of the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, taking into account that Act's exceptions. It also repeals the D.C. Death With Dignity Act of 2016. The practical effect is to remove D.C.'s existing medical aid-in-dying framework and prevent the Council from replacing it with another law or guidance that permits or reduces penalties for covered assisted-suicide or euthanasia activity.
Who Benefits and How
Opponents of assisted suicide, disability-rights advocates who oppose medical aid-in-dying, some religious organizations, and members of Congress seeking tighter control over D.C. end-of-life policy benefit because the District could not maintain or enact a permissive assisted-suicide framework. Patients vulnerable to coercion may benefit if the policy reduces pressure toward assisted death.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Terminally ill D.C. patients seeking medical aid in dying, D.C. physicians, D.C. healthcare facilities, patient advocates supporting aid-in-dying access, and the D.C. Council bear the burden because the existing Death With Dignity Act would be repealed and the Council could not authorize or lower penalties for covered activity. District officials must conform local law and guidance to the new Home Rule Act restriction, and healthcare providers must avoid practices no longer authorized under D.C. law.
Key Provisions
- Amends the D.C. Home Rule Act to bar D.C. laws permitting covered euthanasia or assisted suicide activity.
- Bars D.C. acts, resolutions, rules, regulations, guidance, or other laws that reduce penalties for covered assisted-suicide activity.
- Uses the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 as the covered-activity reference point.
- Repeals the District of Columbia Death With Dignity Act of 2016.
- Prevents the D.C. Council from replacing the repealed framework with another permissive law or guidance.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to bar the D.C. Council from enacting any act, resolution, rule, regulation, guidance, or other law that permits or reduces penalties for euthanasia or assisted suicide activity covered by the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, and repeals the District's Death With Dignity Act of 2016.
Key Policy Areas
Healthcare, Civil Rights, District of Columbia
Primary Purpose
Amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to bar the D.C. Council from enacting any act, resolution, rule, regulation, guidance, or other law that permits or reduces penalties for euthanasia or assisted suicide activity covered by the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, and repeals the District's Death With Dignity Act of 2016.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Opponents of assisted suicide
- Disability-rights advocates opposing aid-in-dying
- Religious organizations
- Patients vulnerable to coercion
- Members of Congress
Identified Costs
- Terminally ill D.C. patients
- D.C. physicians
- D.C. healthcare facilities
- Patient advocates supporting aid-in-dying access
- D.C. Council
- District health officials
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Mr. Barrett (for himself and Mr. Crawford) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
D.C. healthcare facilities, D.C. physicians, Patients vulnerable to coercion
Positive-direction: Patients vulnerable to coercion
Negative-direction: D.C. healthcare facilities, D.C. physicians, Terminally ill D.C. patients
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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