End of Life Option

Assembly Bill No. 15, referred to: End of Life Option, was signed landmark legislation by California Gov. Jerry Brown on October 5, 2015, after a legislative “extraordinary session” called by Gov. Brown. The law did not go into effect until June 6, 2016.

The law allows terminally ill people to request life-ending medication from their physicians.  Supporters of the End of Life Option believe this law gives a terminally ill person the option for a compassionate end-of-life process.  The law requires two doctors to agree, before prescribing the drugs, that a patient has six months or less to live. Patients must be able to swallow the medication themselves and must affirm in writing, 48 hours before taking the medication, that they will do so.

Disability-rights advocates fought hard against passage of the legislative act, and it appears they continue to voice concern that a depressed patient would doctor shop until he/she found a doctor who agreed to write the prescription.  It appears disability-rights advocates plan to explore options that include informing doctors, nurses, and pharmacists that they don't have to participate.

California is the fifth state to permit this option at the end of life. It joins Vermont, Oregon, Washington and Montana.  Across the state, some patients with advanced cancer welcomed the news.

The law appears to be giving terminally ill people peace of mind knowing they will not be forced to die a slow and painful death, go to a state where assisted suicide is already a law, or have families see the traumatic images of their loved ones suffering.

The law comes after Brittany Maynard; an Orange County, California, a woman with brain cancer moved to Oregon to take advantage of laws that allowed her to get lethal medication after she diagnosed with brain cancer.  Jennifer Glass of San Mateo, California was instrumental in launching the End of Life campaign in 2014, before passing away of lung cancer.