New State Initiatives that Impact Healthcare

Now that the election is done, there are a couple states that have approved issued on the ballots that involve healthcare, first up is Washington now becoming the second state to legalize physician assisted suicide, as Oregon has been the lone state thus far to have a similar law. Second is Michigan legalizing marijuana (we know what that will be about in California as it has been a struggle here) and the expanded use of Stem Cell research, again somewhat of a mirror of what we have in California.

Sign of the time with old laws and institutions of the past going to the closet as moth balls and a new way of thinking, from the Wall Street Journal below. BD

Washington Passes Initiative 1000, Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide

Voters in Washington State gave a clear answer yesterday to a thorny ethical question: Should a doctor should be allowed to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to a dying patient?

A state measure known as Initiative 1000 passed by a margin of 59% to 41%, making it legal for doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication for patients with less than six months to live.

Michigan Legalizes Medical Marijuana, Expands Stem Cell Research

In Michigan, embryonic stem cell research is more controversial than medical marijuana — but, ultimately, Michiganders approve of both.

Proposal 1, a medical marijuana initiative, passed by a margin of 63% to 37%, with 87% of precincts reporting, the Associated Press reports this morning. The bill legalizes the use of medical marijuana by patients with “debilitating medical conditions” when approved by a physician. Michigan will become the 13th state to legalize medical marijuana use.

Proposal 2, a measure likely to expand embryonic stem cell research in the state, passed — but by a much narrower margin than Proposal 1. The vote was 52%-48%, with 87% of precincts reporting, the Detroit Free Press reports. The measure allows researchers to use embryos from fertility treatments to create embryonic stem cells, provided that the embryos would otherwise be discarded.