Hawai‘i

Hawaii’s Our Care, Our Choice Act went into effect on January 1, 2019. The Act authorizes medical aid in dying in the state, after nearly 20 years of on-the-ground organizing by supporters and Compassion & Choices. Governor David Ige signed the law on April 5, 2018.

Thank you to all who worked so hard to see the Our Care, Our Choice Act become reality.

Accessing the Law

If you’re a Hawai‘i resident who believes that medical aid in dying is a compassionate and important end-of-life option and would like to know which medical facilities and hospices have policies supportive of end-of-life choice, we will soon be adding these facilities and hospices to our online Find Care Tool. This tool can help you find a healthcare team that will honor your end-of-life values. Stay tuned!

Education and Outreach

Compassion & Choices has launched the Hawai’i Access Campaign, a volunteer-led effort to educate the public, health care professionals and health systems. The campaign works to ensure that people know how to access this and other end-of-life options and that institutions put supportive policies in place, so eligible patients will be able to access medical aid in dying if they choose. Compassion & Choices’ materials are available in seven languages in order to reach as many Hawaiians as possible.

PSAs

To coincide with the implementation of the Our Care, Our Choice Act, Compassion & Choices launched a series of PSAs to educate Hawai‘i residents about the law.

View them here.

Get more information about Hawai‘i.

Tools & Resources

Resources for Patients

What patients need to know about the Our Care, Our Choice Act

Resources for Doctors

What doctors need to know about the Our Care, Our Choice Act

Resources in Other Languages

Find resources in Ilokano, Japanese, Tagalog, Chinese, Korean and Hawaiian

End-of-Life Planning

Planning for end-of-life is a deeply personal process. Let our experts guide you through it, step-by-step.

Radcliffe v. Hawai‘i

For more information about Radcliffe v. Hawai‘i, please click here.

Education and Outreach

History

Hawaiʻi residents have been working to authorize medical aid in dying in the Aloha State for nearly two decades, and Compassion & Choices Hawai‘i has built a large base of grassroots support. Over the past several years we’ve explored a variety of legal and legislative strategies to expand end-of-life choice and authorize medical aid in dying.

Our team included public relations experts, top lobbyists, pro bono attorneys, grassroots organizers and hundreds of volunteers and advocates. We worked closely with bill sponsors to review the legislation, filed a lawsuit to authorize medical aid in dying, gathered petitions, generated a constant drumbeat of media coverage and reached out to key health organizations. The Our Care, Our Choice bill was passed by veto-proof margins in both houses of the legislature.

On July 15, 2017, a state judge decided to dismiss a case (brought forward by Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing and Compassion & Choices on behalf of a Hawaiʻi resident with terminal cancer, John Radcliffe) that seeks to clarify that the Hawai‘i constitution and existing state law allow the practice of medical aid in dying. Plaintiff John Radcliffe appealed the court’s decision.

After nearly 20 years of on-the-ground organizing, the Hawai‘i State Legislature passed the Our Care, Our Choice Act in 2018. Governor David Ige signed the measure on April 5, 2018.

The Our Care, Our Choice Act authorizes the practice of medical aid in dying, in which terminally ill, mentally capable adults, with six months or less to live, can request a doctor’s prescription for medication that they could decide to take in their final days or weeks to end unbearable suffering and die peacefully. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2019.

Accessing the Law

Education and Outreach

PSAs

Tools & Resources

Resources for Patients

Education and Outreach

Hawai’i Advance Directive

History

The Our Care, Our Choice Act is now in effect!