Considerations With Physician-Aided Suicide in Montana

Montana does not have a statutory right-to-die statute. However, in 2009, the Montana Supreme Court held that, under the state’s consent statute, a physician who provides aid in dying to a competent, terminally ill patient may be able to raise consent as a defense to certain homicide charges, depending on the facts. Lawmakers continue to challenge the practice of medical aid in dying for Montanans.

For more information about patients’ rights and end-of-life care in Montana, talk to an estate planning and probate lawyer for legal advice.

Physician-Assisted End-Of-Life Options in Montana

People live their lives in different ways. Some want to live on their own terms and wish to die in the same way. In Montana, medical aid in dying is not authorized by statute, but following the state supreme court’s ruling in Baxter v. Montana, a physician may assert a consent defense in some circumstances.

“In 2008, there was a district court ruling in a case where a physician was charged with prescribing a lethal dose of medicine with the intent that the patient take their own life,” says Daniel J. Auerbach, a healthcare attorney at Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry & Hoven in Missoula. “The judge found the patient’s consent to provide a homicide defense for the physician.”

The Baxter case was appealed through the courts and ultimately reached the state supreme court. The Baxter decision cited the Montana Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, which allows a patient to refuse or withdraw from life-sustaining treatments.

The court found that the act of taking someone off life support provides a similar defense to providing them with aid in dying. Moreover, it doesn’t give grounds for prosecuting a physician for giving this medication. They didn’t go so far as to say you have the right to die with dignity–only that physicians shouldn’t be prosecuted for this.”

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State Legislature Bills Challenging Physician-Assisted Suicide

Bills have gone back and forth in the state legislature in an attempt to pass a state law on this practice, some to legalize it, some to criminalize it.

As of June 2026, Montana has no statute expressly authorizing medical aid in dying. Any legal risk is evaluated under general criminal laws, with Baxter recognizing a potential consent defense in some circumstances. However, some physicians have continued to offer aid in dying as a service.

“In 2013, when the bill was before the legislature, a highly respected family doctor in Missoula aided three patients with an end-of-life decision,” Auerbach recalls. “He said he would follow the law at the time.”

There is no such law and no specific requirements at this time. “But each time the law has been offered at the legislature to legalize this procedure, it’s been identical to Oregon’s,” says Auerbach. Oregon averages about 60 physician-assisted deaths per year. “When doctors were testifying in support of this bill, they pointed to a very similar process, if not the same process, that is required in Oregon.”

On the other side, legislators have introduced bills to make death with dignity illegal. In 2025, lawmakers introduced two such bills, both of which failed. Lawmakers will likely continue to introduce laws to establish or abolish physician-assisted suicide in Montana.

Physician Protocols and Patient Consent

There is no statutory protocol for Montana physicians. However, when prescribing end-of-life medications, many healthcare providers follow the required declarations and protocols of assisted dying statutes in other states, such as the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.

Eligibility Protocols

A dozen other states have similar laws, including California, Hawaii, and Washington. Most states with physician-assisted suicide require the patient to be:

• At least 18 years old
• A state resident
• Mentally capable of making and communicating health care decisions
• Diagnosed with a terminal illness that has a life expectancy of less than six months

The patient must fulfill several other requirements, most of them safeguards to ensure patients have an earnest need to end their life. Waiting periods vary by state. For example, Oregon requires at least 15 days between the two oral requests, and California requires at least 48 hours. Then they must give a written request, signed in front of two qualified, adult witnesses.

Physician Declarations

Many doctors also follow the required declarations of other states. A patient needs two doctors to confirm the diagnosis and prognosis and to determine that the patient is capable of making medical decisions.

In many states, the patient is referred for a mental health evaluation only if one of the physicians believes the patient may have a mental disorder, or depression, that impairs judgment. In addition, the prescribing doctor needs to make several declarations:

• The patient is not being coerced
• They have informed the patient of the alternatives, including pain-management schemes
• They have asked the patient to inform their family of their decision
• They have offered the opportunity to withdraw the patient’s request
• The patient is able to self-administer the medication under their own power

Euthanasia Practices in Montana

“In anecdotal information, the faith-based organizations that I have worked with have been proponents for physicians’ aid in dying,” Auerbach says. “Hospice in Montana is also, generally speaking, a proponent for physician aid in dying because of the very slight difference between palliative care and this practice.”

While Auerbach was at a critical care facility, he learned that doctors had been prescribing medicine in doses that they knew to be lethal. “It happens whether condoned by statute or not, which is probably what is happening in every state with little repercussion because palliative care taken to the extreme is going to be lethal, and it’s hard to prove where that line is,” he says.

Find Legal Help

If you or a loved one wishes to have a physician’s aid in dying in the state of Montana, you should consult a reputable and experienced attorney who can guide you through the legalities and ensure that both you and the physician involved are safe and as legally covered as possible.