The California End of Life Option Act went into effect on June 9, 2016. This compassionate option allows for an eligible terminally ill adult, with a prognosis of six months or less to live, to request and receive a prescription form their doctor that they can self-ingest to peacefully end their suffering.
SB 403, introduced by Senator Catherine Blakespear, seeks to make the End of Life Options Act a permanent law by removing the sunset provision that would expire the law on January 1, 2031. On April 29, SB 403 was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee and passed by a vote of 10-1 with 2 abstentions.
We will continue to work on reauthorizing this law, removing the sunset provision, and reducing barriers to access while ensuring safeguards remain intact.
The CDSS issued a notice to adult and senior care facilities about the End of Life Option Act. Residents who qualify for medical aid in dying living in assisted facilities and other adult or senior care facilities are able to take their medication in their home and can’t be evicted for choosing this option.
A recent survey published in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that the vast majority of religious hospitals in California have non-supportive policies for medical aid in dying. Kim Callinan, Compassion & Choices CEO, writes in an op-ed for the Mercury News, “The lawmakers in California sent a clear message when they passed the End of Life…
El martes a última hora, un tribunal de apelaciones de California ordenó a un tribunal superior anular su sentencia presentada en mayo, la cual suspendió la ley estatal de ayuda médica para morir antes que el tribunal de apelaciones revocó en Junio, restableciendo la ley. El Circuito de Apelaciones del 4to Distrito, dictaminó que los…
A California appeals court late Tuesday directed a superior trial court to nullify its judgment in late May that suspended the state’s medical aid-in-dying law before the appeals court granted a stay in June reinstating the law. The Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District (“appeals court”), ruled the physician plaintiffs didn’t establish legal standing when…
The End of Life Option Act gives mentally capable, terminally ill adult Californians with six months or less to live the option to get a doctor’s prescription for medication they can decide to take to die peacefully if their suffering becomes unbearable. “We have lost some strong advocates who generously gave us their last, precious…
Para celebrar el Día de los Muertos, Compassion & Choices honró hoy la memoria de los defensores que murieron antes que la ley End of Life Option Act o Ley de Opción de Fin de Vida entrará en vigor en 2016 y no tuvieron la opción de ayuda médica autorizada por esta ley. El End…
We want our supporters to have all the resources they need to be engaged at whatever level fits best. At our Virtual Town Hall on October 10, we covered many of these tools, and whether you were able to join us or you couldn’t attend, we want you to have them handy at this important…
The court of appeals suggests that opponents had no standing to bring the case Ahn v. Hestrin, which aims to invalidate the End of Life Option Act. The California Court of Appeals has released an encouraging tentative ruling in the Ahn v. Hestrin lawsuit to overturn the End of Life Option Act. At the moment,…
Although Compassion & Choices succeeded in helping restoring access to the End of Life Option Act, it remains under attack. In an encouraging turn since our last newsletter, when we reported that California’s medical aid-in-dying law had been suspended, an appeals court granted emergency motions by the two terminally ill adults and a physician represented…
In 2014, actor Mauricio Ochmann became the first Hollywood celebrity to publicly endorse Compassion & Choices’ campaign to pass medical aid-in-dying legislation in California, at a time when many Latinos were reluctant to discuss end-of-life care issues. He was joined by civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and civil rights activist, actor and director Edward James…
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