March Note From the President and CEO: Look How Far We’ve Come

There’s been a sea change in public opinion, and we’re leveraging it to shift the balance toward a new paradigm of person-directed care at the end of life.

by Kim Callinan
Mar 29, 2023 Kim Callinan newsletter

Over the past decade, the end-of-life choice movement has grown from being a citizen-activist effort to pass medical aid-in-dying legislation in one state to a nationwide, multisectoral initiative to improve end-of-life care, expand options and empower everyone to chart their own end-of-life journey.  

The momentum of growth has picked up in recent years: We are witnessing a sea change in public opinion and among lawmakers. More and more people are demanding the right to have a say in our own wellbeing and healthcare, not just during life but leading up to and including death. 

In 2022, when the Supreme Court (under the influence of the same anti-choice contingent that opposes end-of-life choice) overturned 50 years of reproductive healthcare autonomy, they galvanized an otherwise disparate group of voters, advocates and activists who all agree on the inalienable right to self-determination in making personal healthcare decisions. As we move through the 2023 legislative session, we are proactively leveraging the growing engagement around bodily autonomy to advance our end-of-life care agenda. 

If you are interested in learning more about the trajectory of the movement, I encourage you to listen to a recent conversation I had with longtime movement leader and public policy expert Robert Raben and Chief Advocacy Officer Charmaine Manansala. Our conversation was held during one of the periodic, private conference calls that Compassion & Choices hosts for our Inner Circle members (i.e., major donors and Legacy Circle supporters). However, this call was so enlightening and compelling, we have decided to make it available to all. Enjoy!