Compassion & Choices Leads SB 403’s Continued Momentum

Terminally ill Californians and advocates are one step  closer to seeing medical aid in dying become a permanent end-of-life care option in the state as the Assembly Judiciary Committee today passed Senate Bill 403 (SB 403) in a bipartisan vote of 8-2. Led by Compassion & Choices Action Network alongside a tireless group of advocates, medical professionals, and legislative champions, SB 403 is building steady momentum after advancing through the Senate in June and the Assembly Health Committee on July 10.

SB 403, introduced by Senator Catherine Blakespear, would eliminate the sunset provision in the state’s End of Life Option Act, which gives a terminally ill, mentally capable adult with six months or less to live the option to request a prescription from their healthcare provider for medication they can take to die on their own terms. 

“Compassion & Choices recognizes and applauds the Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan work in support of SB 403 today, which rightfully protects access to the established end-of-life care option of medical aid in dying that terminally ill Californians have had for a decade,” said Leslie Chinchilla, California state campaign manager for Compassion & Choices Action Network. “We hope lawmakers continue to affirm permanent access to a peaceful death option for eligible, terminally ill adults in the Golden State.”

The End of Life Option Act went into effect June 9, 2016. Apart from the sunset provision, which currently causes the law to expire on January 1, 2031, all other requirements of the law remain unchanged, including the multi-step request process, eligibility confirmation, and multiple patient requests. 

Tim Valderrama read the written testimony of longtime advocate Dan Diaz, whose wife Brittany Maynard thrust medical aid in dying into the national spotlight in 2014 when they moved from their home state of California to Oregon so Maynard could avoid the excruciatingly painful death associated with glioblastoma. At that time, medical aid in dying was not yet authorized in California, and Oregon’s aid-in-dying law required residency. 

“Brittany experienced a gentle death only because of medical aid in dying. Without this option, that brain tumor would have tortured her to death,” wrote Diaz, whose advocacy in her honor contributed to the passage of California’s End of Life Option Act in 2015. “The people of California deserve better than the odyssey Brittany had to go through, of leaving the state just to ensure a gentle death.”

Committee members also heard passionate support for SB 403 from Chair Ash Kalra, Vice Chair Diane B. Dixon, and Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur.

After sharing the emotional story of his sister’s death without the option of medical aid in dying she hoped for, Assemblymember Zbur emphasized the importance of continuing the End of Life Option Act: “I think people all come from this with good intentions, so I don’t criticize anyone for having different views, but if you have known someone who was at a point in a terminal illness where they literally were living in pain every day, you would understand why this is an important law that needs to continue.”

“I’m confident that we should continue to allow this to be the law in California to spare families of the painful demise of their loved one and so that their loved one may face death comfortably upon their own free will,” said Vice Chair Dixon in passionate support of the bill after sharing the story of her mother’s death with ALS without the option of medical aid in dying. 

In closing, Chair Kalra reminded the committee that removing the sunset clause does not remove any other safeguards included in the End of Life Option Act. “Regardless of whether there’s a sunset or not, it doesn’t mean the oversight in the legislature stops. We have plenty of legislation that has no sunset, we write bills about them all the time, as we should, as is our role.”

Three in four Californians (75%) support the End of Life Option Act, including the majority of every demographic group surveyed, including  Hispanic Californians (68%), Black Californians (70%), Asian Californians (76%), and white Californians (82%), according to the California Health Care Foundation.

In California, 1,281 terminally ill Californians obtained prescriptions for medical aid in dying and 884 patients (69%) took the medication in 2023. The aid in dying medication was prescribed by 337 unique physicians. The underlying illnesses of the individuals who utilized medical aid in dying were: cancer: 63.8%, cardiovascular: 12.1%, neurological disease: 8.8 %, respiratory diseases 8%, and other causes 7.2%. The report states that 93.8% were receiving hospice or palliative care. 

Medical aid in dying is authorized in 11 other jurisdictions, including: Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana (via a state Supreme Court ruling), Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Washington, D.C. and  Vermont.

Donor and Supporter Privacy Policy — Contact
Texting Privacy Policy
Media Contacts
It's Not Assisted Suicide