New Map for Utah

Both chambers of Utah's state legislature on Monday approved a new congressional map that will be used in the 2026 midterms next year if the state's Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signs it. [Cox pictured left]

The new map comes after U.S. District Court Judge Dianna Gibson ruled in August that the current map needs to be redrawn because state lawmakers ignored safeguards voters put in place to ensure districts aren’t gerrymandered. The old map divided the Democratic Salt Lake County into the state's four districts, which diluted Democratic influence.

The new map features two new districts that are now competitive for Democratic pickups, according to Politico. The two seats still favor Republicans but give Democratic candidates a fighting chance. 

Utah Becomes First State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water

Utah became the first state to ban the addition of fluoride to public drinking water after Gov. Spencer Cox [pictured right] signed the law late Thursday night. The ban will take effect on May 7.

Rep. Stephanie Gricius, who sponsored the bill, said in an email to The Defender that she was thrilled the governor signed it. She said:

“The proper role of government is to provide safe, clean drinking water, not mass medicate the public. While we have banned it from being added to our water systems, we have also increased access to fluoride tablets through the pharmacies so any Utahn who wishes to take it may. But it will now be a decision each individual can make for themselves.”

The new law bans water fluoridation, but also gives pharmacists new authority to prescribe fluoride supplement pills. Typically, such pills can be prescribed only by a dentist or physician.  

“What Utah has accomplished is historic, a huge step forward,” said Rick North, board member of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), which won a landmark ruling in a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the agency’s failure to appropriately regulate the chemical.

Utah Set to Ban Fluoride From Drinking Water

Joseph MacKinnon March 11, 2025 

The Beehive State would be the first in the union to prohibit the addition of fluoride to the water supply.

The Utah Senate approved legislation Friday that would prohibit the addition of fluoride to public water systems. The bill, criticized by the American Dental Association and a handful of supposed health experts, is now headed to the desk of Governor Spencer Cox, who has indicated he will sign it into law.

While the Beehive State is now set to become the first in the union to pass such a ban, it is unlikely to be the last.

The fluoridation of public waters has long been a subject of heated debate. Advocates for fluoridation argue that the chemical compound helps prevent cavities and tooth decay and strengthens enamel. Critics, on the other hand, suggest that adding fluoride to the water supply poses an unnecessary risk, referring to the scientific evidence linking exposure at elevated levels to various adverse health effects in humans, such as osteosclerosis, calcification of tendons, endocrine dysfunction, bone deformities, premature menarche in adolescent girls, and problems sleeping.

Bill Dies Without Significant Action

Utah Legislature

On January 16, 2020, HB 93 was introduced in the House, seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.

On January 27, 2020, the bill was introduced in the House Rules Committee, for first reading.

On March 12, 2020, the bill became a bill not passed.  To read the proposed bill, click here

Bill Numbered and Distributed

By Margaret K. Dore, Esq.

On January 3, 2020, H.B. 93, "End of Life Prescription Provisions," was numbered and publicly distributed. 

The bill also has a "long title," which states: "This bill amends the Utah Uniform Probate Code to enact the End of Life Options Act." 

Euthanasia Bill Dead for Now

Click here to view source article.

by Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor - Utah Policy.Com

A Democratic-sponsored, end of life bill is, for now, dead in the Utah Legislature.

The House Rules Committee, voting along partisan lines, refused Thursday to allow HB121 to be heard by a standing committee – thus killing the bill unless at a later date Rules members change their minds....

Unless House Democrats can get enough floor votes to lift HB121 from Rules (not likely), or unless Republicans on Rules change their minds (that could happen), end of life legislation is dead in the 2019 Legislature, before the first week is even over.

Utah Teen Who Filmed Girl's Suicide Sentenced to Prison

Tyerell Przybycien 

Nate Carlisle, The Salt Lake City Tribune 

Provo - A 19-year-old man was sentenced to five years to life in prison Friday for helping a teenage girl hang herself and then filmng the act.

Tyerell Przybycien apologized to Jchandra Brown's mother and said he hoped him taking responsibility by pleading guilty would help everyone heal.

"I'm also hoping that,  although I don't deserve it, the victims's family will be able to forgive me for the immature, thoughtless and rash decision," Przybycien told the judge.

New Charges in Assisted Suicide Case Regarding 16 Year Old Girl

Click here to view entire article.

A 19-year-old Spanish Fork man charged with murder in the death of a high school student is facing additional charges.

Tyerell Przybycien was originally charged with one first-degree felony of murder and one third-degree felony of failure to report a dead body after reportedly buying rope, driving a friend to a campground in Payson Canyon and then recording her as she inhaled air cleaner, passed out and died by hanging.

House Passes Bill Seeking to Criminalize Assisted Suicide

Rep. Michael McKell

Jessica Miller, The Salt Lake Tribune  

The Utah House passed a bill Tuesday seeking to criminalize helping someone commit suicide — despite some concern from lawmakers that the bill could unintentionally target physicians or family members of terminally ill patients.

Rep. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork, has sponsored House Bill 86, which would amend Utah’s manslaughter statute to include assisted suicide. This means a person would be guilty of a second-degree felony — which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison — if prosecutors can prove he or she provided “the physical means” for someone to commit suicide.

Assisting Suicide Should Have Legal Recourse

Tyerell Przybycien

Deseret News Editorial Board

Occasionally, someone commits a crime so heinous and disturbing it leads to demands for specific changes in law. Such is the case in Utah in the wake of the suicide of a 16-year-old girl and the efforts of a young man accused of helping, abetting and encouraging her.

A bill before the Utah Legislature would add assisted suicide to the state’s manslaughter statute. That is an appropriate measure that could give law enforcement authorities more prosecutorial leverage.

Lawmaker proposes 'assisted suicide' law after teen allegedly helped girl kill herself

SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) -- A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would create a sort of "assisted suicide" law in response to the death of a Utah County girl and a man charged with murder.

Tyerell Przybycien is facing a murder charge in the death of 16-year-old Jchandra Brown. He is accused of purchasing supplies, goading the girl into taking her own life and taking video of the death.

Teen accused of helping friend commit suicide could face trial for murder

Jchandra "Jelly" Brown

To see article and video, click here.

PROVO, Utah (KSTU) -- A judge will decide if a Spanish Fork man will face trial on a murder charge in the suicide of a 16-year-old girl.

Utah County prosecutors argue that Tyerell Przybycien's actions led Jchandra Brown to kill herself, and he should be tried for first-degree felony murder and a class B misdemeanor charge of failure to report a body. His defense lawyers argued that Brown was responsible for her own actions.

Dore Memo Opposing Assisted Suicide Bill

To view a legal/policy memorandum opposing Utah's assisted suicide bill, click here and here. Key points include:

• "Eligible" persons may have years, even decades, to live.  
• The bill is stacked against the patient and a recipe for abuse.
• "Using" the law can be traumatic for patients and their families.

Press Release: Bill Will Allow "the Perfect Crime," Encourage People "to Throw Away Their Lives"

For print version, click here.

Salt Lake City, UT -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought assisted suicide legalization efforts in many states, and now Utah, made the following statement in connection with a bill pending before the Utah Legislature.  (HB 264).

"The bill has an application process to obtain the lethal dose," said Dore. "The process includes a written lethal dose request form with two required witnesses.  One of the witnesses is allowed to be the patient's heir who will financially benefit from the patient's death."

Testimony of Kenneth Stevens MD Opposing Assisted Suicide

Testimony of Kenneth Stevens MD Opposing Assisted Suicide

To view testimony as a pdf, click here.

1.  I strongly urge you to Vote No on HB 264, which seeks to legalize physician assisted suicide in Utah

Photo of me and my patient Jeanette Hall, 15 years after
I talked her out of assisted suicide in Oregon

I am a cancer doctor in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. I was also raised in Logan, graduated from USU, and received my MD from the University of Utah Medical School 50 years ago. I am Professor Emeritus and former chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Oregon Health and Science University. I regularly visit Utah. I continue to practice in my cancer medical specialty.

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Don’t pass death with dignity act

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/2236819-155/letter-dont-pass-death-with-dignity

I am a lawyer in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal. Our law is based on a similar law in Oregon. Both laws are similar to HB391, which is pending in the Utah legislature. I disagree with Nancy Thompson that passing that bill will enhance individual choice (Feb. 27).

Legal assisted suicide is, instead, a recipe for elder abuse. HB391, like Washington's law, allows one of two witnesses on the lethal dose request form to be an heir who will financially benefit from the patient's death. Once the lethal dose is issued by the pharmacy, there is no oversight. Even if the patient struggled, who would know?  (For more information, click here).

Thompson compares legalizing assisted suicide to pet euthanasia in which the owner, not the pet, makes the decision to end the pet's life. More to the point, the pet does not get to choose.

I hope that you can keep assisted suicide out of Utah.

Don't make Washington's mistake.

Margaret Dore

Seattle

Problems with H.B. 391

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

H.B. 391 seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Utah.  I am a lawyer in Washington State where we have a similar law.  Our law is based on a law in Oregon.  

Problems include:

1.  HB 391, if enacted, will encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives.

HB 391 seeks to legalize assisted suicide for persons with a "terminal disease," which is defined as having less than six months to live.  In Oregon's law, which uses the same definition, young adults with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, are "eligible" for assisted suicide.  Such persons can have years, even decades, to live.  See https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/a-2270-3r-memo-12-02-14.pdf   "Eligible" patients can also have years to live because doctors can be wrong.  See https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/terminal-uncertainty.pdf and https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/signed-john-norton-affidavit_001.pdf

2.  HB 391, if enacted, will allow health care providers/institutions to use coverage incentives to steer patients to suicide.

In Oregon, that state's Medicaid Plan steers patients to suicide through coverage incentives.  If HB 391 is enacted, Utah health care providers/institutions will be able to do the same thing.  For more information about Oregon's situation, see the affidavit of Kenneth Stevens, MD, at this link:  https://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/dr-stevens-affidavit_001.pdf 

3.  Legalization is a recipe for elder abuse. 

HB 391, like Washington's law, has no oversight at the death.  No doctor is required to be present. Not even a witness is required.  This situation creates the opportunity for an heir, or another person who will benefit from the patient's death, to administer the lethal dose to the patient without his consent. Even if he struggled, who would know?

4.  Increased suicide

In Oregon, other suicides have increased with the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.  See http://www.choiceillusion.org/2014/03/the-high-financial-cost-of-regular.html Legalization, regardless, sends the wrong message to young people that suicide is an acceptable solution to life's problems. Utah already has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation.  See http://www.standard.net/Health/2014/05/22/Utah-suicide-rate-soars

5.  Washington's similar law.

For a short article about Washington's similar law, please go here (non-lawyers tell me they like it):  https://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/BView.aspx?Month=05&Year=2009&AID=article5.htm

Utah man, 75, pleads guilty in death of ailing wife The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2229855-155/utah-man-75-pleads-guilty-in

A 75-year-old Roy man accused of killing his ailing wife — after he purportedly studied methods of assisted suicide — has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of attempted murder.

Dennis Vance Chamberlain was charged in Ogden's 2nd District Court with first-degree felony murder in the death of his wife, 70-year-old Jean Chamberlain, on Feb. 16, 2014.

On Thursday, Chamberlain pleaded guilty to attempted murder. As part of the plea deal, attorneys stipulated to a sentence of six years to life in prison, according to Deputy Weber County Benjamin Willoughby. The murder charge was punishable by a 15-years-to-life prison term.

Judge to set bail for Roy man accused of killing his wife

http://www.kutv.com/news/features/local/stories/vid_7381.shtml

(KUTV) Bail will be set Friday for a Roy man accused of killing his wife.

Dennis Chamberlain, 74, is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Chamberlain killed his wife in February.

They claim he bought an assisted suicide manual then used chemicals, bags and hoses to make her death look natural.

A judge will set bail and hear evidence in the case to decide if it should go to trial Friday.