The American Ethical Union (AEU) passed the Death With Dignity resolution by an overwhelming majority during its 105th Assembly. The AEU is founded on the principles of the dignity and worth of each person, reverence for life, and freedom of belief among others. The resolution urges ethical societies to work actively on medical aid in…

Advocates with Compassion & Choices Action Network and End of Life Washington are hopeful for change after Senate Bill 5179 was successfully voted out of the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee (6-4); supporters are looking forward to a full Senate vote any day. This legislation includes modest revisions to Washington’s Death With Dignity Act, removing roadblocks that prevent many…

Advocates for the D.C. Death with Dignity Act today met with D.C. Council members to urge them to support the bill in advance of an Oct. 5 vote on it by the Council’s Health and Human Service Committee. The bill would give terminally ill adults the additional end-of-life care option of medical aid in dying….

Advocates for the D.C. Death with Dignity Act gathered in the nation’s capital September 22 to urge Councilmembers to support the bill in advance of an Oct. 5 vote on it by the Council’s Health and Human Service Committee. If the committee approves the bill, the full Council will vote on it before the end of the…

End-of-life care advocates are cautiously relieved that the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a federal spending bill Thursday with an unprecedented policy rider to repeal the D.C. Death with Dignity Act and prohibit the D.C. Council from ever re-passing a medical aid-in-dying law. The rider was attached to the 2024 Financial Services and Government and General Government appropriations legislation…

This article originally appeared in the January 2021  National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA) newsletter. It is reprinted here with their permission. I had the privilege of speaking during a special NEDA webinar, hosted by my Compassion & Choices colleague Bob Drake. Bob offered a special two-hour session focused on the nuts and bolts of medical…

(Olympia, WA — Jan. 18, 2021) Compassion & Choices Action Network and End of Life Washington today urged members of the Washington House Committee on Health Care & Wellness to approve HB1141, the Improving Access to Death with Dignity Act.  On Monday January 18, the committee held a hearing on HB1141, taking testimony from Compassion…

Since no one gets out of here alive, we might be able to choose between a good death and a bad death. Many of us would say a good death means we are free of pain and suffering, surrounded by loved ones in a setting of our choice, and able to wind down after a…

(Olympia, WA) Compassion & Choices Action Network and End of Life Washington today urged members of the Washington Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care to approve HB1141, the Improving Access to Death with Dignity Act. The committee held a hearing today on the legislation, taking testimony from Compassion & Choices Action Network President…

This piece was originally published by The Illinois Times on May 10, 2018. My grandmother, whom we called “Nana,” always loved children. Many times, she asked me to give her great-grandchildren. In 2000, the moment finally arrived. But it didn’t seem to matter. Eagerly, tenderly, I lay my newborn son in her arms. She sat…