Skip to Content

Assisted Suicide Bill Passed in CA

A bill permitting terminally ill patients to make the choice on ending their own lives just passed in the state of California.

From the Huffington Post:

The End of Life Option Act, which passed in the state Assembly Wednesday, would allow patients to seek aid-in-dying options so long as they are given six months or less to live by two doctors, submit a written request and two oral requests at least 15 days apart and possess the mental capacity to make their own health care decisions.

California Governor Jerry Brown, a democrat, has yet to state whether or not he will sign this bill into law.

The bill was inspired by 29-year-old Brittany Maynard of the San Francisco Bay Area, who became a major spokesperson and face of the “death with dignity” movement. She was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer last year. Following her diagnosis, Maynard moved to Oregon where assisted suicide has long been legal. She died on November 1, 2014.

“I am heartbroken that I had to leave behind my home, my community and my friends in California. But I am dying and I refuse to lose my dignity. I refuse to subject myself and my family to purposeless, prolonged pain and suffering at the hands of an incurable disease,” Maynard said in a video message to lawmakers recorded a few weeks before her death.  “No one should have to leave their home and community for peace of mind, to escape suffering and to plan for a gentle death.”

Brittany Maynard personally lobbied Gov. Brown over the phone a week before her death.