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.
Compassion & Choices Action Network is proud to share that, due to our advocacy and the leadership of Senator Catherine Blakespear and other legislative champions, SB 403, the bill to make the End of Life Option Act permanent, has been signed into law on October 3, 2025, by Governor Gavin Newsom. We are so pleased that in times of great uncertainty, we have worked alongside champions and partners to ensure that everyone in the Golden State will continue to have access to the End of Life Option Act in perpetuity.
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.
Medical aid in dying is for people who are already dying. It is a lawful medical option for qualified adults with a terminal illness, a prognosis of six months or less to live, who can make their own healthcare decisions and have the ability to take the medication themselves.
Medical aid in dying is not suicide or euthanasia. Compassion & Choices supports people seeking information about lawful end-of-life care options in the United States. We do not provide instructions or guidance for ending your life outside supportive medical care.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, in crisis, or thinking about suicide, help is available right now. You are not alone, and your pain deserves care. Call 988, text 988, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at https://988lifeline.org/chat/
A California judge granted a motion by opponents of the California End of Life Option Act to overturn the law because he said the legislature violated the state constitution by passing it during a special session limited to health care issues. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia gave the state attorney general five…
Compassion & Choices has filed an amicus brief defending California’s legal definition of brain dead as dead that is under challenge because of a decision by Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles to stop artificial life support for a brain dead two-year-old boy. The deceased boy’s mother and a right-wing religious group have filed a lawsuit…
The California Senate Health Committee rejected legislation by State Senator Mike Morrell today that would make it harder for terminally ill Californians to access medical aid in dying under the End of Life Option Act. The bill, SB 1336, would have added invasive and unnecessary reporting requirements to the End of Life Option Act. Committee…
This article originally appeared for The Desert Sun When I was growing up, my dad would take me to the hospital to see my mom, Jeanne, at work. She was an registered nurse in the operating room and emergency department. By the end of her career, she moved into case management. She had chosen her…
A Los Angeles Judge rules that 37-year-old Juan Fernando Romero’s wife, Ana, who was being sued by his family, has the authority to remove him from life support. Right before Christmas of 2016, C&C’s Legal Advocacy department received a desperate call from Ana Romero and her attorney in Los Angeles to discuss a case involving…
This story originally appeared for La Opinion, Los Angeles; El Diario, NY; La Prensa, Miami; and La RAZA, Chicago. Links below. In May 2015, my 35-year-old husband, Juan Fernando Romero, a seemingly healthy young man, suddenly became ill and suffered severe brain damage that left him in a permanent vegetative state. I was pregnant with our second child….
The following op-ed appeared in the Sacramento Bee on March 14, 2018: Lawmakers have to strike a balance between rules that safeguard patients and excessive regulations that make it difficult for patients to access health care. Adding more rules sometimes does more harm than good, and new legislation to amend California’s End of Life Option…
Fifteen months after Juan Fernando Romero’s family sued his wife, Ana Romero, to wrest control of his end-of-life care from her, a judge ruled last week that Ana had the legal right to end treatment to artificially prolong his life after he suffered severe brain damage that left him in a permanent vegetative state. Brain…
Quince meses después de que la familia de Juan Fernando Romero demandará a su esposa, Ana Romero, por tomar el control de sus cuidados al final de su vida, un juez determinó la semana pasada que Ana tenía el derecho legal de terminar el tratamiento que prolongaba la vida de su esposo artificialmente, después de…
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