About Us
The End of Life Options Massachusetts Coalition is a group of unique organizations collectively educating state legislators and the public about all end of life options, including medical aid in dying (MAiD).
Together, we are advocating for the passage of MAiD legislation for terminally ill adult residents of the Commonwealth. Qualified patients who are capable of making their own health care decisions can request a prescription from a doctor for medication that will bring about a peaceful death.
Coalition Members
25 Years of Data
By the numbers - Compassion & Choices, a coalition partner, produces a utilization report annually that compiles the data from the authorized states. This data outlines how many prescriptions are written in the tracking states, patient demographics, and number of prescriptions used.
Currently, 21% of US residents live in a jurisdiction that has authorized medical aid in dying.
There are 11 jurisdictions that have authorized medical aid in dying: Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Washington D.C., Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, and New Mexico.
Voices from Authorized States
"In the years since passage of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (the Act), DRO has received very few complaints from disabled Oregonians about the Act. All of the complaints we have received have focused on the concern that the Act might discriminate against persons with disabilities who would seek to make use of the Act but have disabilities that would prevent self-administration, thereby denying these persons the ability to use the Act. DRO has never to my knowledge received a complaint that a person with disabilities was coerced or being coerced to make use of the Act." Bob Joondeph, Executive Director, Disability Rights Oregon
“…when you brought the original bill [the 2015 End of Life Option Act], I was a bit of a skeptic and I have to admit I did not vote for the bill; I had concerns. But … I think that it’s clear that this is something people in California want and we need to make sure works, and that’s why I’m in support of this bill [SB 380] … there were a lot of protections in the original bill. I don’t think we’re weakening those protections at all with what you’re doing with this bill … we’re … making it more workable for the people who really desire and want this option.” Dr. Richard Pan, Democratic chair of California’s Senate Health Committee