Lawmakers tell HHS to crack down on discrimination in medically assisted suicide 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to set up new monitoring rules for hospices to root out discrimination against vulnerable populations in the provision of medically assisted suicide. 

In a letter sent to Kennedy on Thursday, Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Reps. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) and Luis Correa (D-Calif.) recommended that Kennedy’s HHS establish reporting requirements in the hospice program to better monitor the provision of medically assisted suicide for discrimination against people with disabilities, older adults and other vulnerable populations. 

The lawmakers said such requirements would be a step to preventing hospice patients, especially those who are more vulnerable such as having a disability or disaffected caregivers, from being coerced into a decision to end their lives. 

“Every person has inherent worth and dignity, including those facing their final days,” Lankford said in a statement. “Hospice should be a place of compassion, comfort, and care, where the........

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