History of the Movement

On April 9, New Mexico becomes the 11th jurisdiction to pass a medical aid-in-dying law with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s signing. New Mexico’s law featured a number of provisions that make it more accessible than prior states.

Andrew Flack (1988-2022), a 33-year-old special education teacher from Illinois living with stage IV colorectal cancer, became a Compassion & Choices storyteller to advocate for access to medical aid in dying. After relocating to California—where the option was legal—Andrew used his platform, including The Death with Dignity Podcast, to share his journey and educate others.

Rev. Dr. Paul Smith is honored as the inaugural recipient of the award named in his honor, recognizing his leadership at the vanguard of efforts to improve end-of-life options for all. The award celebrates faith leaders whose work advances dignity, compassion, and autonomy at life’s end.

Compassion & Choices establishes the AANHPI Leadership Council to address cultural and linguistic barriers in end‑of‑life planning. 

Compassion & Choices establishes the Faith Leadership Council, a national interfaith network of clergy, chaplains, and lay leaders dedicated to advancing compassionate end-of-life education. 

The NAACP adopts a national resolution acknowledging that “African American disparities extend to the end-of-life process and planning.” The resolution urged families to educate themselves about advance directives, healthcare proxies, organ donation, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and end-of-life options such as hospice, palliative care, and a physician-assisted peaceful transition. It further resolved that the NAACP would provide education, guidance, and proactive advocacy to ensure that all people have access to meaningful information and options when planning for the end of life.

The Center for Black Health & Equity issues a resolution affirming that end-of-life disparities are part of broader systemic inequities facing African Americans. 

On November 4, Compassion & Choices convenes the Addressing Inequities in End-of-Life Planning & Care summit. Participants include leaders in palliative care, hospice, primary care, emergency medicine, and advocates focused on racial justice, health equity, and LGBTQ+ end-of-life support. 

January 2022, Compassion & Choices secures a landmark victory with the settlement of Almerico v. Idaho, a federal lawsuit challenging an Idaho law that voided the living wills, or advance directives, of all pregnant people..

Compassion & Choices works with our partners at Patient Choices Vermont to amend the state’s medical aid-in-dying law to allow patients to request medical aid-in-dying medication using telehealth, pharmacists and other medical professionals. Additionally, we eliminated a provision that required a mandatory 48 hour waiting period between the final request from the patient and the physician’s ability to write a prescription.

In October, Compassion & Choices files Gideonse v. Brown (2021) which challenges the residency requirement for medical aid in dying under Oregon’s Death with Dignity law. As a part of the resulting settlement, Oregon authorities agreed not to enforce the state residency restriction for medical aid in dying and to urge the state legislature to formally remove it from the law. Building off our victory in Gideonse, we filed a lawsuit, Bluestein v. Scott, challenging the residency requirement in Vermont’s medical aid-in-dying law in August.

Wendy Soderlund, a retired psychiatric nurse diagnosed with early-stage dementia, became a vocal advocate for Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) as a means of maintaining control over her end-of-life experience.

Dolores Huerta received the inaugural Dolores Huerta award named in her honor, recognizing her decades of civil rights leadership and her advocacy to expand end-of-life care options for Latino communities.

Compassion & Choices LGBTQ+ Leadership Council is established to elevate and empower LGBTQ+ voices in end-of-life care. The council focuses on addressing barriers to equitable care and strengthening partnerships to ensure LGBTQ+ individuals can plan for end-of-life in ways that reflect their values and identities.

Compassion & Choices launches the National Emergency & Palliative Medicine Initiative (NEPMI) to help emergency departments nationwide incorporate primary palliative care into their standard practice.

Compassion & Choices launches a Ventanilla de Salud pilot program in partnership with the Institutes of Mexicans Abroad and the Secretariat of Health of Mexico, implemented through Mexican consulates in the United States. The partnership expands access to advance care planning tools and patient-directed end-of-life information for Latino immigrant communities that rely on consulates as trusted health-access points.

Catholics for Compassion forms as a network of Catholic advocates committed to expanding end-of-life options for individuals with terminal illnesses.

Compassion & Choices filed a federal lawsuit August 29 on behalf of cancer patients in Delaware and Pennsylvania and two New Jersey doctors asserting the residency mandate in New Jersey’s medical aid-in-dying law violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment.

Compassion & Choices releases enhanced Dementia Values & Priorities Tool which was redesigned based on input from volunteers, focus groups, and clinical experts. The new version is now fully interactive and password-free, aligned with their Advance Care Planning Toolkit and POLST/MOST forms, and includes in-line plain-language videos.

Compassion & Choices establishes the Allyne Hammer Excellence in Advocacy Award to honor volunteers advancing end-of-life care options in their communities. The first recipients are Doris Fischer of Montana and Rosalind Kipping of Maryland, recognized for their dedication and impact; the award is named in memory of Allyne Hammer’s decades of advocacy.

September 19, The Compassion & Choices African American Leadership Council hosts “The Journey Home: A Comprehensive Discussion on the Power of Planning” summit in Washington, D.C., with virtual participation. The event aimed to empower nearly 1,000 attendees with tools and insights for end‑of‑life and advance-care planning.

June 5, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the improved End-of-Life Options Act into law.

Dr. Jeff Gardere, nationally known psychologist, interfaith minister, and media personality, was appointed to the Compassion & Choices Board of Directors.

José Alejandro Lemuz (1963-2024) a Honduran‑American with terminal prostate cancer, publicly declared his intention to use California’s End of Life Option Act, becoming the first Latino in the U.S. to do so. 

The Latinx National Task Force adopts a shared resolution with Compassion & Choices to strengthen culturally and linguistically appropriate end-of-life education for Latino communities. 

On May 20,  Gov. Matt Meyer signs House Bill 140, Ron Silverio/Heather Block Delaware End-of-Life Options Act into law, making Delaware the 12th U.S. jurisdiction to authorize medical aid in dying and affirm the right of terminally ill adults to peacefully end their lives on their own terms.

On June 6, Kevin Díaz, previously Compassion & Choices’ Chief Legal Advocacy Officer and interim CEO since September 2024, is officially appointed as President & CEO

On December 12, Medical aid in dying is authorized in Illinois when Gov. Pritzker signs SB 1950, the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act. Also known as “Deb's Law” for Compassion & Choices storyteller Deb Robertson.