Both national and state polling shows that the vast majority of healthcare professionals and voters across the demographic spectrum support medical aid in dying as an end-of-life care option for terminally ill adults to peacefully end unbearable suffering. The polls also show support for medical aid in dying is rising over time. National Polling Susquehanna…

Section I: Introduction Attention Candidates! This brief resource is designed to provide up-to-date, reliable information about end-of-life care options for those seeking political office.  For most candidates, expanding healthcare options for dying people is a winning issue with supermajority support from voters, as proven by numerous years of polling.  Voters in your district are asking…

Updated Law Cuts Nation’s Longest Waiting Period from 20 to 5 Days, Allows Providers to Waive it if Need Be, Allows More Providers to Participate Compassion & Choices praised Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green, M.D., for signing legislation last week to significantly improve access to its 2018 law allowing terminally ill adults to obtain a prescription…

“Knowing I can access medical aid in dying has freed me from fear of the future and allowed me to live what remains of my life as fully as possible.”  “We look forward to Governor Hochul signing the legislation to make New York the 12th state in the US to authorize medical aid in dying.” Corinne Carey,…

Kicking off the 2019 campaign to pass the bipartisan New York Medical Aid in Dying Act in 2019, Compassion & Choices today released the first valid survey of New York State physicians’ views on medical aid in dying. The survey – conducted by WebMD/Medscape – shows that by a 56-26 percent margin, New York doctors…

Joining the Effort: LI Doctor Who Sponsored Resolution Resulting in the Medical Society of New York Supporting Medical Aid in Dying  Supporting Organizations – League of Women Voters, Statewide Senior Action Network, Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, NY Bar Assn. – Urge Passage The prime sponsors of New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act, Assembly…

Compassion & Choices is the leading nonprofit organization working to improve care, expand options and empower everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. For more than 30 years we have worked to change attitudes, practices and policies so that everyone can access the information and options they need to have more control and comfort at the…

This article originally appeared in the January 2021  National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA) newsletter. It is reprinted here with their permission. I had the privilege of speaking during a special NEDA webinar, hosted by my Compassion & Choices colleague Bob Drake. Bob offered a special two-hour session focused on the nuts and bolts of medical…

This piece originally appeared on the March 15, 2017 Health Affairs Blog During the past 20 years, the end-of-life care community has devoted its energy, resources, and time into developing the medical sub-specialty of palliative medicine and promoting integration of palliative modalities into treatment of advanced illness. Progress continues toward twin goals of providing relief from…