A bill to make medical aid in dying permanently legal in California goes before the state Senate Judiciary Committee today.
The End of Life Option Act is currently set to sunset in 2031. Senate Bill 403 would remove the expiration date.
Leslie Chinchilla, California manager for the Compassion & Choices Action Network, said the basics of the law remain in force.
"You have to be terminally ill, you have to have the prognosis of six months or less to live and that has to be confirmed by two physicians," Chinchilla explained. "You do have to be an adult, 18 years or older, and you have to be a California resident."
The patient also must be of sound mind and must take the medication unassisted. Since the law went into effect in 2016, more than 6,500 Californians have obtained the prescription, and just under 66% died from ingesting the medications.
Chinchilla added it is now legal for terminally ill patients to end their suffering through medical aid in dying in 10 states plus the District of Columbia.
"It's really important that in all the years that medical aid in dying has been legal, there hasn't been a single reported significant case of abuse of the law," Chinchilla pointed out. "The law is working as intended."
Opponents of medical aid in dying often cite religious objections.
