End of Life Options| A Better Exit

Legislative Efforts & Educating Californians

SUCCESS

SB 403, the bill to allow California’s End of Life Option Act (EOLOA) for Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) to become a permanent law, passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee with Senator Catherine Blakespear doing an exemplary job of presenting and defending the need to remove the Sunset Clause from this law. The State Legislature will be on a Summer Recess until August 18th, after which SB 403 will either be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee or move directly to a full Assembly floor vote.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Between now and the end of August, it would be extremely valuable if you could meet in person with your Assemblymember’s staff in their District Office to verbalize your support of SB 403 OR call or email your Assemblymember’s Capital or District Office about your support of SB 403.

FIND MY ASSEMBLYMEMBER

TALKING POINTS IN SUPPORT OF SB 403

Of the 12 jurisdictions in the USA (11 states and the District of Columbia) with MAID laws, California is the ONLY state that has a sunset provision attached to our law, which would make our law end on January 1, 2031.
Data has been collected (and will continue to be collected) since the inception of our law in 2016 without a single substantiated case of abuse noted. The law is working as originally intended!
There are plenty of safeguards written into our law, so the possibility for coercion or abuse that opponents like to bring up are not founded.
People diagnosed with a terminal disease between now and the date of the law’s sunset (1/1/2031) need the peace of mind that this law will still be available as an option for them when they are within six months of dying.

PLEASE HELP by contacting your Assemblymember or their staff between now and the end of August with an in-person visit, a phone call, or an email expressing your strong support of SB 403.

Thank you for continuing to provide your support to have California’s EOLOA become a permanent law!

we're not done

While eliminating the sunset clause has long been something A Better Exit has desired, we had hoped that this year’s bill would address our primary goals:

(1) To allow those with progressive neurodegenerative diseases (early to mid-stage dementia, ALS, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and other lesser-known progressive neurodegenerative diseases) access to MAID before they lose their mental or physical capacity to make this choice.

(2) To allow all patients utilizing MAID an IV option in addition to the ingested option, which is currently the only method allowable, with both methods continuing to be self-administered.

Because this type of legislation is so controversial, the changes we desire will need to be made incrementally. SB 403 will be a start, but we are committed to continuing to work towards achieving our major goals in future legislative sessions.

SPREADING THE WORD

A recent report based on research done by End of Life Choices California found that only 25% of Californians are aware that we have a law allowing medical aid in dying (MAID). We also know that even fewer are aware of the specifics of the law. So, A Better Exit has turned much of our attention to arranging talks in person or via Zoom to spread the word about MAID— what it involves, who can and cannot access MAID under the current law, and the ways we would like to see our End of Life Option Act modified to allow more suffering Californians the option to choose a peaceful death. If you know of organizations or retirement communities that might be interested in a presentation or have a connection to a media outlet that might be willing to work with us to publicize our effort, please email us at contact@abetterexit.org.

Broadening California's End of Life Option Act (EOLOA)