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/
Una corte superior de California dictaminó hoy que una demanda para revocar la ley de California, ‘Opción de Fin de Vida’ sea llevada a juicio para determinar los méritos del caso (véase Ahn vs. Hestrin – Caso RIC1607135). Por ahora, la ley de un año ‘Opción de Fin de Vida’, sigue vigente porque el tribunal…
(Sacramento, CA – June 1, 2017) One year after the California End of Life Option Act — inspired by the advocacy of terminally ill Californian Brittany Maynard — took effect, data and personal stories compiled by Compassion & Choices show the law is working very well, just as the state legislature intended. The law gives…
Joan Stucker joined the fight for end-of-life options before the California legislative campaign picked up steam in 2014. She helped start a program called Friends of Compassion & Choices, which grew to include an email tree of over 600 people and accelerated volunteerism in the campaign. She and other Coachella Valley Action Team volunteers made…
The following article appeared in the SGIM Forum: 2017 In August 2016, I met a retired physician in his 80s who was dying of prostate cancer that peppered his entire skeleton, compressing his spinal cord. He had just been discharged from the hospital to the skilled nursing facility, part of the senior community where he…
(Los Angeles, CA – 21 de Marzo de 2017) El Concejo Municipal de Los Ángeles otorgó hoy al actor mexicano Mauricio Ochmann un certificado de Honor como agradecimiento por su trabajo en beneficio de la aprobación de la ley “Opción al Final de la Vida” de California, que entró en vigor en junio del año…
(Los Angeles, CA – March 21, 2017) The Los Angeles City Council today honored Mexican actor Mauricio Ochmann with a certificate of honor to thank him for his work to help pass the End of Life Option Act in California that took effect last June. The law gives mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six…
The following blog appeared on The Jewish News of Northern California A close friend passed away recently — no doubt among the first people to take advantage of California’s End of Life Option Act. Signed into law in 2015 and in effect as of June 9, 2016, the law gives terminally ill adults who have…
Environmentalist, internationalist and Californian by way of Germany, longtime Compassion & Choices supporter Ray Perman recently joined our storytelling program to share his experiences with terminal cancer and accessing California’s medical aid in dying law. Having been raised between Germany and the United States, Europeans’ more progressive attitudes around end-of-life care was part of Perman’s…
Jill Lloyd of Irvine, California, has been a hospice volunteer for 35 years and also works as a part-time funeral director and celebrant – a surprising path considering she essentially grew up without death. “I was raised in Christian Science, so people don’t ‘die,’ and you don’t go to doctors,” explains Jill. “My mom died…
To receive personalized support, resources, and information.
Leave a message at 800.247.7421 to get connected.
If you are deaf or hard of hearing, or prefer written communication, you are welcome to reach us by email at [email protected]
Mail contributions directly to:
Compassion & Choices Gift Processing Center
PO Box 485
Etna, NH 03750
Compassion & Choices is a 501 C3 organization. Federal tax number: 84-1328829
