Virginia

Virginia Senate passes bill to legalize medically-assisted deaths in 21-19 vote

Published

2 years ago

February 26, 2024

Virginia Senate passes bill to legalize medically-assisted deaths in 21-19 vote

The Virginia State Senate passed a bill that would allow mentally and physically capable terminally ill adult patients to seek medically-assisted death Feb. 9. Senate bill SB-280, titled “Health care; decision-making, definitions, medical aid in dying, penalties,” passed by a 21-19 vote, with Democrats voting mostly in favor and Republicans voting mostly against. The bill was introduced to the Virginia House of Delegates Feb 15. for further consideration.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has not yet indicated whether he would sign or veto the bill if it passed in the House.

According to its text, the bill would let healthcare providers “prescribe a self-administered controlled substance to a qualifying patient for the purpose of ending the qualifying patient’s life, upon request of the patient.”

Mary Faith Marshall, director of the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics at the School of Medicine, said the bill would bring a sense of control and self-regard to people who feel a lack of agency due to their disease.

“It’s not just about physical pain and suffering, but it’s about the patient’s quality of life and their dignity,” Marshall said. “It’s a way of respecting people’s autonomy — an important way.”

Marshall said the bill has all the procedural safeguards in place to ensure the request is voluntary and made by a patient who is predicted to die within six months. The bill would require that the request be made twice within the span of 15 days, be voluntary without influence from outside sources and after the patient has been given information on alternative care options.

Lois Shepherd, professor of Biomedical Ethics at the School of Medicine, said she is not in favor of the bill, stating that American culture overvalues independence. She added that terminally ill people are often concerned about the issues they could face if they prolonged their life, such as losing autonomy and burdening friends and family.

“I wish we would focus more attention on providing care to people and making people feel like they did not need to shorten their lives in order to avoid some of the things that they are worried about,” Shepherd said.

According to a 2022 poll by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership, seven out of 10 Virginians support the ability to have a medically assisted death. Since Delegate Kaye Kory introduced the Death With Dignity Act in 2019 — a bill supporting medically assisted death that was not passed — multiple versions of bills to legalize medically-assisted death have been introduced to Virginia legislatures and failed. The current bill was introduced by Senator Ghazala Hashimi (D-Va.) and was the first of its kind to pass in the Virginia Senate. Outside of Virginia, medically-assisted death is currently legal in 10 states, including Oregon, California and Colorado, as well as Washington, D.C.

Despite the bill being split largely along party lines in the State Senate, with the majority of Democrat senators voting in favor of the bill and most Republican senators opposing it, Shepherd said people should not think of medically-assisted death as a partisan issue.

“We shouldn’t assume if you’re a liberal, you’re automatically for it, and if you’re a conservative you’re automatically against it,” Shepherd said. “I might characterize it as an issue about which good people can have disagreement.”

The House, which also holds a democratic majority, has referred the bill to the Committee for Courts of Justice for further consideration.

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Virginia

Virginia Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 Night results for June 2, 2026

Published

5 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Virginia Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 Night results for June 2, 2026

The Virginia Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at June 2, 2026, results for each game:

Mega Millions

Mega Millions drawings take place every week on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m.

15-26-43-48-60, Mega Ball: 12

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 3

DAY drawing at 1:59 p.m. NIGHT drawing at 11 p.m. each day.

Night: 4-5-7, FB: 9

Day: 8-7-6, FB: 5

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 4

DAY drawing at 1:59 p.m. NIGHT drawing at 11 p.m. each day.

Night: 7-0-6-5, FB: 8

Day: 1-1-9-0, FB: 1

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 5

DAY drawing at 1:59 p.m. NIGHT drawing at 11 p.m. each day.

Night: 2-9-1-0-4, FB: 0

Day: 5-9-4-1-7, FB: 0

Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Cash Pop

Drawing times: Coffee Break 9 a.m.; Lunch Break 12 p.m.; Rush Hour 5 p.m.; Prime Time 9 p.m.; After Hours 11:59 p.m.

Coffee Break: 10

After Hours: 14

Prime Time: 04

Rush Hour: 13

Lunch Break: 06

Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.

Millionaire for Life

Drawing everyday at 11:15 p.m.

16-33-41-50-52, Bonus: 01

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Center for Community Journalism (CCJ) editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Virginia

First boat to Bermuda wins — Virginia man prepares for 753-mile voyage from Annapolis – WTOP News

Published

15 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

First boat to Bermuda wins — Virginia man prepares for 753-mile voyage from Annapolis – WTOP News

Kevin Sherwood’s boat is one of 21 in this year’s Annapolis to Bermuda Oceans Race, or A2B, which dates back to 1979.

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DC-area man hopes to race from Annapolis to Bermuda by boat

The boat that Kevin Sherwood of Springfield, Virginia, bought is still in dry dock as he makes final repairs and preparations ahead of the whole reason he bought the “Bay Retriever” in the first place.

If all goes as planned, he’ll get it in the water Wednesday, and starting at noon on Friday, he’ll be heading south down the Chesapeake Bay on a 753-mile voyage to Bermuda.

Sherwood’s boat is one of 21 in this year’s Annapolis to Bermuda Oceans Race, or A2B, which dates back to 1979. He’ll be joined by a crew of four others in a race he said is among the most challenging on the East Coast.

“I bought this boat in 2022 specifically for the Bermuda race,” Sherwood said. “Since I bought this, everything we’ve done has been prepping for it.

“Plenty of sailors never leave the Chesapeake. It’s very different when we’re dealing with ocean waves, ocean weather, all kinds of different conditions. So, the boat really needs to be set up for it.”

The bay, being both relatively shallow and surrounded by land, can make for ideal sailing; if something still goes wrong, help isn’t far away.

Heading out in the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean to an island more than 600 miles off the coast can present more difficult circumstances. Yet, if you go on the race’s website, you’ll see a long list of people hoping to get picked up by a boat to help take part.

“We’re out of rescue range for a portion of the trip. They’ll ask a passing freighter to come help you if you have a problem,” Sherwood said. “We are on our own out there.”

Some boats will have full galleys available to help cook meals for the crew. But Sherwood’s vessel, being smaller, has been stocking up on food and water from the grocery store.

He and the crew will take turns sailing and resting in the cabin down below. A “leak loss” — imagine a hammock, more or less — will catch anyone if the boat leans one way while they’re sleeping, lest they fall to the floor.

Of course, that assumes they’ll have strong winds and waves. Sherwood, who has done this race twice before, said that’s not always the case.

“My first Bermuda race, we had plenty of nothing going on,” he said. For two days, the winds were so calm Sherwood’s team was “barely making two knots.”

Two years ago, he saw more clouds than stars and sun, and waves were running 12-15 feet high.

“The last couple of races we haven’t seen many sunsets because of clouds, fog, rain, that sort of thing,” Sherwood said. “But when you are out there all alone and just the stars, it’s incredibly detached. There’s really nowhere left in the country to get this isolated.”

Of course, having access to Starlink means there is some connection out on the water — though, if you’re on duty, you’re too focused to care. If you’re not, you’re probably resting.

“There’s definitely parts I’m going to hate,” he said. “There’s parts I’m going to be asking myself, ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I here?’ But it’s just such an awesome team sport. When I go off watch, I’m trusting the other guys to keep sailing, keep racing, to keep us safe, to keep the boat moving fast. We get to detach from the world.”

Starting at noon on Friday, Kevin Sherwood will be sailing down the Chesapeake Bay on a 753-mile voyage to Bermuda.
(WTOP/John Domen)

WTOP/John Domen

a man in blue polo smiles at the camera from viewer's left of a sailboat. — Fairfax County resident Kevin Sherwood’s boat is one of 21 in this year’s Annapolis to Bermuda Oceans Race, or A2B.
(WTOP/John Domen)

a man in a blue polo stands beneath a large sailboat

For how long is anyone’s guess. Weather and winds will determine the time it takes to get there.

“If conditions are amazing, we’ll get in on Tuesday,” he said. “If conditions are great, Wednesday. If they’re average, Thursday, and if they’re terrible, Friday.”

Those following from home can track Sherwood and everyone else in the race online. Whenever he arrives, he said workers on the docks will have a “Dark n’ Stormy” — one of Bermuda’s national drinks — waiting for them.

He’ll also be hoping to be handed a trophy he can sail back with, but that’s not the most important thing right now.

“There’s a point of pride just for completing this; 753 miles of ocean sailing is a big deal,” he said.

“So, yeah, I mean, I want to do well, but my first goal is just to make it back here safely in two and a half weeks. My next goal is to make it to Bermuda safely. Then my third goal is to finish well and get a podium finish again.”

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