United Spinal v. Colorado

At a Glance:

On October 7, 2025, four intervenors, including Compassion & Choices Action Network, filed a motion to intervene and oppose a lawsuit seeking to invalidate Colorado’s End of Life Options Act. The proposed intervenors are represented by Compassion Legal: The End-of-Life Justice Center at Compassion & Choices and O’Melveny & Myers, LLP.

On March 31, 2026, a Magistrate Judge recommended the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ case, as none of the plaintiffs are harmed by the existence of Colorado’s medical aid-in-dying law. 

The Details:

On October 7, 2025, a terminally ill patient, a physician, a licensed professional counselor, and Compassion & Choices Action Network filed a motion to intervene in United Spinal v. Colorado, to oppose the lawsuit seeking to invalidate Colorado’s End of Life Options Act.

United Spinal v. Colorado was filed on June 30, 2025, by disability rights organizations and an individual recovering from an eating disorder to oppose Colorado’s End of Life Options Act. The lawsuit is very similar to a legal challenge dismissed by a California federal district court judge in 2024. 

Colorado’s End of Life Options Act was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2016 to give qualified individuals the freedom to make personal, compassionate choices at the end of life. The Intervenors are fighting to ensure that Coloradans facing terminal illness maintain the option of medical aid in dying.

The Intervenors are:

• Charlie Baratta, an individual living in Castle Rock, Colorado, with terminal prostate and neuroendocrine cancer who would like the option of medical aid in dying; 
• Kerry Broderick, M.D., an emergency medicine physician in Denver, Colorado, who has acted as a consulting provider to patients seeking medical aid in dying; 
• Kelly Kee, M.A., L.P.C., a Colorado-licensed professional counselor who specializes in the treatment of individuals with eating disorders. Mrs. Kee previously struggled with anorexia and is now in recovery. Mrs. Kee’s brother, Andrew Flack, utilized medical aid in dying in California when his pain and suffering from terminal cancer became too great;
• And C&C Action Network, sister organization to Compassion & Choices and sponsor of the 2016 voter initiative. 

The Intervenors seek to maintain medical aid in dying in Colorado to ensure that terminally ill individuals have the full range of options at the end of life so they can choose the option that best fits their needs and values. The Intervenors argue that Colorado’s medical aid-in-dying law does not remove any supportive services, but rather provides an additional end-of-life option that qualified terminally ill patients can either choose or decline to utilize. 

On March 31, 2026, Magistrate Judge Varholak filed a Recommended Decision, finding that the case should be dismissed due to lack of standing, and that the motion to intervene should be denied without prejudice. While we wait for the District Court to make a final ruling on the case, Compassion Legal is evaluating our options to ensure that Coloradans continue to have access to this end-of-life option and that the voices of individuals most affected by this law continue to be heard.