On January 16, 2025, the End of Life Options Act (S.1486/H.2505) was introduced for the 2025-2026 legislative session by Senator Jo Comerford, Representative Jim O’Day and Representative Ted Philips.
On April 2, S.1486/H.2505: An Act Relative to End of Life Options was heard by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health. The committee has set a deadline of June 1 to move the bill.
While we wait, we ask that advocates in Massachusetts use the link below to email their legislators and ask them to co-sponsor this session’s bills.
The Massachusetts End of Life Options Act would authorize medical aid in dying in Massachusetts, bringing the full range of end-of-life care options to terminally ill Massachusetts residents. Email your lawmakers today and urge them to cosponsor the bill.
An excerpt from the Greenfield Recorder letter to the editor, “‘We need more options’,” by Florence resident Linda Matson, published August 21, 2020: I am writing concerning John Kelly’s recent opinion piece in the Recorder [‘Older, ill and disabled people deserve choice-promoting services, supports’]. It is so filled with misunderstandings I hardly know where to…
An excerpt from the Boston Globe op-ed, “Mass. should enact End of Life Options Act,” by Lexington resident Michael Martignetti, published August 13, 2020: Thirty years ago, I was diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia, an incurable neuromuscular, and often life-shortening, disease, which will eventually incapacitate me. Since 1990, I have lost the ability to walk and…
An excerpt from the Greenfield Recorder letter to the editor, “Re: Sandra Boston’s letter, ‘Death with Dignity’,” by Greenfield resident Tom Travis, published July 21, 2020: I have had a sister who had ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and she suffered for months. If Massachusetts had passed H 1926 Senate docket No. 1208…
An excerpt from The Salem News letter to the editor, “Support end-of-life choices,” by Topsfield resident Heidi Fox, published July 15, 2020: ..After 10 years, Massachusetts is ready to consider the personal end-of-life decisions families make to relieve the suffering of the terminally ill, when the Joint Committee on Public Health recently passed [the Massachusetts…
An excerpt from the Greenfield Recorder letter to the editor, “Death with dignity now,” by Sandra Boston, published July 6, 2020: We all deserve the choice of whether or not to suffer with a drawn out painful terminal illness. Our families deserve the relief from suffering they cannot control. I pray to have the presence…
On May 29, Compassion & Choices marked a huge advancement in our campaign to expand and protect end-of-life care options in Massachusetts and across the country when the state’s Joint Committee on Public Health approved legislation that would authorize medical aid in dying: the Massachusetts End of Life Options Act (H.4782/S.2745). It is the first…
An excerpt from The Berkshire Eagle letter to the editor, “End of Life Act provides needed options,” by Williamstown residents Kathy McKnight and David Rempell, published June 25, 2020: “The End of Life Options Act was passed by the state Joint Committee on Public Health on May 29. The bill now moves forward in the…
An excerpt from The Berkshire Eagle letter to the editor, “End of Life Act gives people a choice,” by Williamstown resident Jeanne Marklin, published June 23, 2020: “The End of Life Options Act is not a suicide pact between doctor and patient. It is a matter of giving the dying patient the choice to decide…
An excerpt from the Telegram & Gazette letter to the editor, “ End of Life Options Act must be passed before July 31,” by Warren resident Carol Mays, published June 19, 2020: “With the COVID-19 pandemic, the subject of death has been brought into the forefront of public discourse. However, for those of us…
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