Informed consent is under threat. Here’s what you need to know.

There is a coordinated attack on medical aid in dying from multiple organizations, on multiple fronts. 

Recent lawsuits filed in New York and Illinois claim that religiously affiliated healthcare facilities and providers are being forced to participate in medical aid in dying. Both ask that the medical aid-in-dying laws in New York and Illinois be declared unconstitutional. 

The claims in the lawsuits aren’t accurate: Both New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act and Illinois’ End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (also called Deb’s Law) protect healthcare workers’ right to follow their own conscience. No doctor or provider is ever required to participate in medical aid in dying. Hospitals and other healthcare institutions can also choose to ban their staff from writing these prescriptions.

But the plaintiffs are not just asking to opt out of participating in helping a patient access medical aid in dying. They are petitioning for power over what people are allowed to know — and whether they can access care elsewhere. 

Respect for conscience is not an excuse to block care

In the end, healthcare institutions get to decide what treatments they offer. But when they accept responsibility for a patient’s care, they also have a responsibility to support informed consent. This means giving patients honest, medically relevant information and keeping accurate records of their care, even when the patient’s choices don’t match the institution’s values. Respect for conscience is important, but it should never be used as an excuse to hide accurate information or block a dying person from getting timely care from a willing provider. 

Patients facing the end of life deserve truthful information, accurate medical records, and the ability to make decisions according to their own values, priorities, and beliefs — not those of their healthcare provider. 

At the end of life, your choices should belong to you. And when you are dying, delaying your care is denying your care. 

Where things stand in New York and Illinois

Currently, the New York Attorney General’s office has paused certain requirements of the state’s law until the Court is ready to make a final ruling. This means that for now, the New York Medical Aid in Dying Act is in effect, but people receiving care from these institutions may be denied complete and accurate information about all of their care options. 

In Illinois, Deb’s Law is still scheduled to go into effect on September 12. However, there is a temporary restraining order that stipulates, like in New York, that the specific plaintiffs in Kirchoff v. Treto, and only these plaintiffs, do not have to comply with Deb’s Law when it takes effect.

These delays and gaps in information rob dying patients of their right to know, understand, and meaningfully consider all of their end-of-life care options. 

We’ve beaten these attacks before — and we’ll do it again

Compassion & Choices is committed to ensuring that everyone, including in New York and Illinois, have the information and resources they need to choose end-of-life care options according to their values, priorities, and beliefs. 

We have fought against these threats in every state where this compassionate end-of-life choice is newly an option, and we have won time and time again — thanks to our supporters and advocates. 

Learn more about our work to protect fully-informed, patient-directed care.