New Jersey

Status of Medical Aid in Dying

Medical aid in dying was enacted in New Jersey on August 1, 2019.

On January 9, 2024, Assemblymember Herb Conaway introduced Bill A1880, which waives or reduces the waiting period between requests if the person is not expected to survive that time frame. The bill was referred to the Assembly Health Committee. A summary of the bill can be found here.

Threats to the law: A407, aimed at repealing the Medical Aid in Dying Act and A406, which makes it a crime of the first degree to coerce a patient to request medical aid in dying or forge a patient’s request for medical aid in dying were both introduced this session but neither have moved in committee.

New Jersey Death with Dignity is a 501c3 organization that provides services, education, and end-of-life advocacy

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Polling Data

By more than a 2-to-one margin (63% to 29%) of New Jersey residents feel that allowing doctors to legally prescribe lethal drugs to help terminally ill patients end their own lives should be an end-of-life option in the state. See more polling data.

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New Jersey Stories

Latest New Jersey News

NJ Appeals Court Upholds Lower Court’s Dismissal of Lawsuit Seeking to Overturn Aid-in-Dying Law
June 13, 2022

Plaintiffs’ Last Legal Option Is to Appeal Ruling to Supreme Court Compassion & Choices praised the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Court for a ruling on Friday affirming the lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s 2019 medical aid-in-dying law based on constitutional and religious objections. Compassion & Choices submitted an amicus brief in the…

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New Jersey Reports 50 State Residents Received Aid-in-Dying Prescriptions in 2021
June 9, 2022

The New Jersey Department of Health has released a report showing 50 state residents received prescriptions authorized by the state’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, and 45 people took the medication, representing .06% of the state’s total deaths of 84,072 people in 2021. In comparison, 33 terminally ill New Jersey residents received prescriptions for medical…

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New Jersey Releases Year-Two Data
May 26, 2021

The New Jersey Department of Health has published a report showing that 33 terminally ill residents in 16 counties used the state’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act to peacefully end their suffering in 2020. Of those who utilized the law in 2020, 94% were white, 73% had cancer and 15% had…

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New Jersey Reports 33 State Residents Used Aid-in-Dying Law in 2020
May 14, 2021

The New Jersey Department of Health has released a report (NJ.gov link) showing that 33 terminally ill state residents in 16 counties used the state’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act to peacefully end their suffering in 2020 (an average of 2.75 adults/month). Ninety-four percent of the people who utilized the law…

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