Health Care

Prescribed medication to end life for the terminally ill

4 public statements from 2026 candidates

§1The range of views

Why this matters: It decides what choices dying patients have at the end of life, and it raises questions about protecting patients from pressure that people weigh differently.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

Whether terminally ill people should be able to get a doctor's prescription for medication to end their own lives, as Oregon has allowed since 1997.1

  1. Allow it, with safeguards such as waiting periods and approval by two doctors
  2. Leave it to each state
  3. Don't allow it

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Don't allow it (1)

  • Richard Hudson NC-9
    His campaign website's Life page says he opposes legislation to legalize euthanasia.2

Statements that don't match one option (3)

  • George E. McDermott MD-4
    A 2018 candidate survey posted on his campaign website says that for patients considered terminal, assisted suicide is a decision for the patient and the doctor, and that government and the health care system should not draw out their suffering.3
  • Eugene F. Douglass NC-2
    His campaign brochure says the elderly should be shielded from euthanasia and that only God determines a person's lifespan.4
  • Stephen Villee NH Governor
    His campaign website says that in the short term he wants to legalize medical assistance in dying for people with a terminal illness, and in the long term to make suicide legal even without one.5