NJ.com: 33 terminally ill people in N.J. ended their lives by using the Aid in Dying law last year
May 17, 2021 medical aid in dying New Jersey New Jersey Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act
An excerpt from the NJ.com article, “33 terminally ill people in N.J. ended their lives by using the Aid in Dying law last year,” by Susan K. Livio, published May 17, 2021:
"Most had graduated college, gotten married and were suffering through the final stage of cancer. Nearly all chose to die at home.
A total of 33 New Jersey residents with a terminal illness chose to hasten their deaths last year using the state’s relatively new Medical Aid in Dying law, according to a new report by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.
Even in a year dominated by the pandemic — which claimed the lives of more than 16,000 New Jerseyans, displacing cancer as the second-most common cause of death — the law’s impact is significant...
White, educated people living in the suburbs are typically the most likely to use the law, Matt Whitaker, national director of integrated programs for Compassion & Choices, a national nonprofit organization which lobbies to enact aid in dying laws.
'We are trying to increase access for people who are not in populated, affluent communities,' Whitaker said.
People who don’t have health insurance would have to pay out of pocket, he said, and that expense may be cost-prohibitive. Three states, Hawaii, Oregon and California, passed laws to require state funds be used to pay for the prescription if patients get their health coverage from Medicaid, he said. Compassion & Choices is working to expand this coverage, he said."
