During a discussion of Oregon's assisted suicide law on the October 5 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh suggested alternative ways individuals could choose to end their lives, including "[a] six pack, and hose, and go sit in your car, and wave sayonara. You can take a cruise ship on Lake George in New York." The Oregon law is currently under review by the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case on the morning of October 5.

Limbaugh's comment about Lake George is an apparent reference to an incident in which a tour boat on the upstate New York lake capsized, killing 20 passengers.

Limbaugh also referenced the suicide of writer Hunter S. Thompson in February: “I love the Hunter Thompson method. You go into your kitchen. You grab a shotgun. You aim -- and the shotgun -- and you can't miss. You blow yourself up in the kitchen sink so you don't create a mess, then Johnny Depp comes out to your house and blows your ashes into outer space via a cannon."

From the October 5 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: So in asking yourself about this Oregon assisted suicide law, OK, the people of Oregon voted twice for this by pretty good majorities. But there are people who said, “Oh, you can't do that.” Then they said, “Wait a minute. We're the people of Oregon. I thought you conservatives believe in states' rights. I thought you believe in the rights of the people over the federal government.”

Uh, yeah, but that's not monolithic. I mean, these are --these issues go deeper than just states' rights versus federalism. Because if we're able to ace out of the equation, if government as we were founded is not going to protect, stand for, defend the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, then who will?

Furthermore, after we wipe that out of the equation, then we're gonna turn over the decision to the patient, i.e., victim, and his or her doctor. Well, why do we want to corrupt the medical profession here? If people want to kill themselves, there are ways of doing this. A six pack, and a hose, and go sit in your car, and wave sayonara. You can take a cruise ship on Lake George in New York. Uh, there are any number of ways [Laughter], I'm sorry, but there are any number of ways that -- yeah, well, I'm just saying -- that-that was incompetent situation up there.

But my point is nobody is stopping anybody from killing themselves.

[...]

This, this is not an exact science. You're putting a lot of power, even though it may not sound like it, in the hands of the doctors. So you, as a patient, go in, “Yeah, doc. Oh, man. I'm in bad shape. I want that, I want that medicine, man. I want to wipe myself out.”

“OK, pal I see your pain and, ah, ah, I'll look at you. Yeah, you've got six months.” Then another doctor does the same thing. Doctors are still making the decision. “Yep, six months. Six months. We concur. Ah, patient is of sound mental state.” Ah, and bammo! [Claps hands]

The excitement over this is something. It, it just kind of gnaws at me. There's this- - we've got death activists out there. You know, I -- there's a lot of things I understand in life but I don't understand death activists. I -- well, in a political sense I do. But just in a strictly human sense, I don't.

I, folks, let me -- I love the Hunter Thompson method. You go into your kitchen. You grab a shotgun. You aim -- and the shotgun -- and you can't miss. You blow yourself up in the kitchen sink so you don't create a mess, then Johnny Depp comes out to your house and blows your ashes into outer space via a cannon.