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Jeff McComas, who lives in Minnesota, was diagnosed with terminal intestinal cancer and wants to travel to Colorado, where medical aid in dying is legal
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The 55-year-old is unable to end his life through Colorado’s End-of-Life Options Act because the law requires in-state residency
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McComas and two Colorado physicians are now suing Colorado, claiming the law is discriminatory and unconstitutional
A terminally ill Minnesota man is suing Colorado, claiming that the state’s ban on assisting out-of-state residents with medical aid in dying is unconstitutional.
Jeff McComas, a retired engineer from Woodbury, Minnesota, was diagnosed with stage 4 intestinal cancer in January 2023. With chemotherapy, the 55-year-old was able to give himself more time. However, doctors informed him that his disease is terminal.
“The news came as a shock, and my family and I were in a state of disbelief. We have gone from shock to denial and anger, to negotiating, and finally to acceptance,” he said in a statement. “While the side effects of cancer and its treatments can be burdensome, I fight through them, try not to complain and make the best of my time.”
“But even with my phenomenal medical team, my options in Minnesota are limited. I’ll never be ‘cancer free’ or in remission. And at some point, the chemo will stop being effective, and either my cancer will continue spreading or the tumors will grow in size. I don’t want a long, drawn-out end. I didn’t pick this road, but I’m on it, and I want control in deciding when I’ve suffered enough.”
Supplied by Jeff McComas family
Jeff McComas
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McComas said he wants the option of medical aid in dying (MAID). However, it’s not available in his home state — a fact that he calls “madness.” So, McComas said he wants the option to travel to Colorado, where the End-of-Life Options Act went into effect in 2016.
The law allows patients with terminal illnesses to end their lives with lethal medication — without supervision of their medical team. It’s different from euthanasia because the patients themselves administer prescribed drugs to end their lives, rather than a doctor. Euthanasia is illegal in the United States.
In addition to Colorado, MAID laws have been authorized in California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey and New Mexico.
However, to qualify in Colorado, individuals must be residents of the state.
“If the pain from my disease becomes unbearable, I want the option of medical aid in dying,” McComas said in a statement. “Since I cannot die on my own terms where I live, I should have the option of traveling to Colorado to access the care there. Right now that option does not exist.”
Supplied by Jeff McComas family
Jeff McComas with his family
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On May 22, nonprofit organization Compassion & Choices filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of McComas and two Colorado physicians. The complaint argues that the residency requirement of Colorado’s End-of-Life Options Act violates the U.S. Constitution’s Privileges and Immunities Clause which “prohibits State officials from restricting non-resident visitors’ access to medical care within its borders absent a substantial State interest and restrictions narrowly tailored to those interests.”
Additionally, the filing also claims that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which prohibits state laws that discriminate against interstate commerce by preventing providers from providing specific and appropriate medical services to otherwise qualified patients who are non-Colorado residents.
“The law is discriminatory. Appropriate health care options should not be denied to someone based on their zip code,” Jess Pezley, Compassion & Choices’ senior staff attorney, said in a release. “Firsthand experience from countless doctors and patients, and decades of data, make it clear that the residency restriction functions more as a barrier to access than as a safeguard.”
Dr. Barbara Morris and Dr. Jennifer Harbert, the physicians who brought on the lawsuit along with McComas, have both prescribed medical aid in dying medications to Colorado residents. However, they said they’re often contacted by out-of-state residents seeking the same care.
“I regularly hear from people who live outside Colorado and want to come here for help with medical aid in dying,” said Morris. “But under current law, I face the threat of criminal prosecution and civil liability if I offer non-residents the same compassionate care I provide to Colorado residents. That defies logic.”
“As the law is currently written, I cannot provide the same medical care that I deem appropriate to non-Colorado residents,” added Harbert. “I am simply saying that all the patients I treat in Colorado should have access to the same care.”
Supplied by Jeff McComas family
Jeff McComas
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The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit Colorado officials from enforcing the residency provision of the law, which limits access to medical aid in dying.
McComas explained that although he wants the option to travel to Colorado for MAID, the ultimate goal is to have the option available in Minnesota.
“I need Minnesota to pass a medical aid-in-dying bill soon,” he said. “I won’t see 2030. I want to be empowered to make my own end-of-life decisions, not having the medical community fighting to keep me alive one more painful day.
“If the end is here, I’m of the mindset that it is better a day too soon than a week too late,” McComas continued. “I need to be allowed to pick the day and manner of my choosing, and have my wife and children at my side. I will not slowly, painfully, inexorably pass away. I will be in charge of my own passing. I’m willing to do what it takes and travel, but I’d much prefer to die painlessly in our home in Minnesota.”
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