Medical aid in dying allows a terminally ill, mentally capable adult to voluntarily request and receive prescription medication from a healthcare provider that they can self-administer to die peacefully, on their own terms.
Who Qualifies?
To be eligible, an individual must:
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Be 18 years or older
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Have at least one healthcare provider diagnose them with a terminal illness
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Have a prognosis of six months or less to live
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Be mentally capable of making an informed healthcare decision
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Be able to self-ingest their medication
Decision-making capacity is required
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In order to be eligible for medical aid in dying, a person must be mentally capable of making an informed healthcare decision.
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The law requires that mental capacity be confirmed before the person receives the prescription.
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Although a person with dementia will eventually face a six-month-or-less prognosis, the disease’s progression will rob them of the ability to make informed decisions.
There are strong safeguards
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Every state law includes strict safeguards to ensure the choice is voluntary.
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Any attempt to pressure or coerce someone into requesting or using medical aid in dying is a felony.
It is NOT Suicide
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Medical aid in dying is only an option for adults who are terminally ill with a prognosis of six months or less to live.
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When medical aid in dying is authorized, it increases the likelihood that a terminally ill person will express their desire to end their life to a medical provider who has the training to evaluate them and connect them to appropriate care and support.
It is NOT euthanasia
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To qualify, a person must be able to self-administer the medication through an affirmative, conscious, and voluntary act.
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No one else may administer it.
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Control of medical aid in dying stays with the terminally ill individual from start to finish.
It is NOT administered by an injection or IV
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U.S. laws prohibit injections or IV administration.
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The medication is prescribed as a compound mixture, usually a powder combined with liquid, which the individual self-ingests.
U.S Laws are NOT the same as international laws
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All U.S. medical aid in dying laws are only available to qualified terminally ill adults with
a prognosis of six months or less to live, who can self-administer the medication. -
Other countries’ laws differ: some allow people who are not terminally ill to qualify, allow the clinician to administer the medication, or operate under a national system.
