The Facts about Medical Aid in Dying

Medical aid in dying allows a terminally ill, mentally capable adult to voluntarily request and receive prescription medication from a healthcare provider that they can self-administer to die peacefully, on their own terms.

Who Qualifies?

To be eligible, an individual must:

Be 18 years or older
Have at least one healthcare provider diagnose them with a terminal illness
Have a prognosis of six months or less to live
Be mentally capable of making an informed healthcare decision
Be able to self-administer their medication

Advanced age, disability, and chronic health conditions alone are not qualifying factors; having a terminal illness and a prognosis of six months or less is an essential eligibility factor in all U.S. medical aid-in-dying laws.

Decision-making capacity is required

In order to be eligible for medical aid in dying, a person must be mentally capable of making an informed healthcare decision.
The law requires that mental capacity be confirmed before the person receives the prescription.
In addition to decision-making capacity, a person must also have a six-month prognosis to be eligible for medical aid in dying. This means a person with dementia would not qualify for medical aid in dying.

There are strong safeguards

Every state law includes strict safeguards to ensure the choice is voluntary.
Any attempt to pressure or coerce someone into requesting or using medical aid in dying is a felony.

It is NOT Suicide

Medical aid in dying is only an option for adults who are terminally ill with a prognosis of six months or less to live.
When medical aid in dying is authorized, it increases the likelihood that a terminally ill person will express their desire to end their life to a medical provider who has the training to evaluate them and connect them to appropriate care and support.

It is NOT euthanasia

To qualify, a person must be able to self-administer the medication through an affirmative, conscious, and voluntary act.
No one else may administer it.
Control of medical aid in dying stays with the terminally ill individual from start to finish.

It is NOT administered by an injection or IV

U.S. laws prohibit injections or IV administration.
The medication is prescribed as a compound mixture, usually a powder combined with liquid, which the individual self-ingests.

U.S Laws are NOT the same as international laws

All U.S. medical aid in dying laws are only available to qualified terminally ill adults with
a prognosis of six months or less to live, who can self-administer the medication.
Other countries’ laws differ: some allow people who are not terminally ill to qualify, allow the clinician to administer the medication, or operate under a national system.