On January 17, 2023, bill S.1331/H.2246, which would authorize medical aid for dying in Massachusetts, was introduced by Sen. Jo Comerford, Rep. Jim O’Day, and Rep. Ted Philips and was assigned to the Joint Committee on Public Health. February 7, 2024, the End of Life Options Act was moved favorably out of the Joint Committee on Public Health as a Senate bill, carrying the House bill. On April 25, 2024, the bill moved favorably out of the Joint Committee on Healthcare Financing to the Senate Ways and Means Committee, where it is now awaiting action.
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.
(Falmouth, Mass.) Falmouth became the sixth jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Monday night to pass a resolution endorsing medical aid-in-dying legislation. The Falmouth Board of Selectmen passed the resolution with 4 yes votes and 1 abstention. The resolution will be transmitted to the governor and lawmakers who represent Falmouth in the Legislature. It calls…
I’m a doctor with incurable stage 4 prostate cancer. When my suffering becomes intolerable, I hope my doctors will permit me the option to end it peacefully with medical aid in dying — something I have been working to get explicitly authorized in Massachusetts, where I live. Medical aid in dying gives mentally capable, terminally…
The following article appeared in Kaiser Health News on January 26, 2018: When the end draws near, Dr. Roger Kligler, a retired physician with incurable, metastatic prostate cancer, wants the option to use a lethal prescription to die peacefully in his sleep. As he fights for the legal right to do that, an influential doctors…
The Massachusetts Medical Society’s (MMS) House of Delegates voted to adopt a new position of “neutral engagement” on the practice of medical aid in dying December 2, one day after a survey was released showing the society’s members backed the state’s End of Life Options Act by a 2-1 margin. “If medical aid in dying…
The following op-ed appeared on MassLive.com on December 26, 2017: Before my son was born 17 years ago, I researched the type of childbirth I wanted. My husband and I discussed the options. We wrote a birth plan. We reviewed it with our medical team. And our medical team made decisions with our preferences in…
Compassion & Choices commended the Lexington Board of Selectmen for voting to endorse the End of Life Options Act (H.1194/S.1225). The vote makes Lexington the fifth jurisdiction to endorse medical aid in dying, which gives mentally capable, terminally ill Massachusetts adult residents with six months or less to live the option to end unbearable suffering….
Compassion & Choices praised the Amherst Town Meeting for voting tonight to endorse the Massachusetts End of Life Options Act (H.1194/S.1225). The approval vote makes Amherst the fourth jurisdiction to support medical aid in dying as an option for mentally capable, terminally ill Massachusetts adult residents with six months or less to live to end…
The approved resolution urges state lawmakers to pass the End of Life Options Act (H.1194/S.1225), which was introduced in January by Rep. Louis Kafka (8th Norfolk district), and Sen. Barbara L’Italien (2nd Essex & Middlesex district). The resolution will be transmitted to Governor Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Stan Rosenberg and to…
It’s been another active legislative session so far, and our Massachusetts team continues to forge ahead with increasing strength. The state’s Joint Public Health Committee held a hearing on the End of Life Options Act September 26, and we succeeded in making a statement, rallying more than 150 advocates to attend and over 25 supporters…
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