There are few souls in this world who, by their individual selfless acts, make a significant contribution to millions. A vibrant and courageous 29-year-old woman did exactly that during her life and her death, and in doing so changed the course of the death with dignity movement forever. Today we commemorate the life of Brittany Maynard, … Continued
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, we are featuring interviews with those who in 1994 campaigned to pass the law. We recently sat down with Geoff Sugerman, who managed the Measure 16 campaign for the Oregon Right to Die Political Action Committee and continues to work as a political strategist with … Continued
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, we are featuring materials from our archives that chronicle the 1994 campaign to pass the Oregon law, which appeared on the November 1994 Oregon statewide ballot as Measure 16. In 1994, the issue of death with dignity was far more taboo … Continued
Derek Humphry is considered by many to be a founder of the death with dignity movement in the United States. Since founding the pioneering right-to-die organization The Hemlock Society in 1980, Humphry has been a leading advocate for the right of terminally ill individuals around the world to decide how they die. In 1991, Humphry’s book, Final Exit, topped … Continued
This is the full text of a white paper we published in December 2018. * Death with dignity has improved end-of-life care nationwide. The passage of death with dignity laws, starting with the Oregon Death with Dignity Act in 1994, has had an impact that extends far beyond providing a heretofore unavailable end-of-life option. It … Continued
Jonathan Partridge is a television producer in New York City. I am a proud New Yorker and I always have been. That is, until I found out that lawmakers in my state did not support death with dignity. This end-of-life option would have provided great comfort to my mother who died two months ago after a lengthy … Continued
Kelly Willis is a medical transcription business owner in Peoria, Arizona. My dad—my hero—was a formidable man. Near the end of his life, however, a rare and aggressive form of cancer robbed him of his strength. He could have wasted away in a hospital, his body weakening as the terminal illness took his life day by … Continued
Elaine Fong is the Design Director for Blue Bottle Coffee in Oakland, California. Read our Q&A with Elaine about her design work. I am not a healthcare professional. I am a brand designer who creates experiences by connecting with human emotion. But my mother’s death—and, more importantly, the choices she made about how to design her death—helped me … Continued
Last year Elaine Fong’s mother used the Washington Death with Dignity Act. Elaine shared the experience of helping her mother fulfill her end-of-life wishes in a TEDx San Francisco presentation in October 2017. Elaine told us, “Our family is grateful to have given our mom a peaceful death and to fulfill her end of life … Continued
Medical aid in dying is currently authorized in six states (California, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, Washington) and the District of Columbia. Most of these laws are based on the Oregon Death with Dignity Act that became effective in 1998. Medical aid in dying laws authorize terminally ill patients with less than six months to live … Continued
This is the full transcript of the speech former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts gave at our luncheon commemorating the 20th anniversary of implementation of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. There are so many stories to tell, I get so nervous. We have known each other for a very long time and there are others … Continued
Twenty years ago today, Oregon voters rejected Measure 51 which would have repealed the Death with Dignity Act they had approved just three years before. The law went into effect a week before the 1997 election, on October 27, but the Measure 51 campaigns dominated the media so much that, in the public eye, the … Continued
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of implementation of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, we are featuring stories of those who in 1997 campaigned against the repeal of the law adopted by Oregon voters 3 years before. Today we are featuring an interview with Ann Jackson, who was president of the Oregon Hospice Association from 1988-2008. It is … Continued
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of implementation of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, we are featuring stories of those who in 1997 campaigned against the repeal of the law adopted by Oregon voters 3 years before. Today we are featuring Geoff Sugerman, who managed the Measure 16 campaign for the Oregon Right to Die Political Action Committee; … Continued
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of implementation of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, we are featuring stories of those who in 1997 campaigned against the repeal of the law adopted by Oregon voters 3 years before. Today we are featuring George Eighmey, President of our Board of Directors, who was an Oregon State Representative … Continued
This year we commemorate the 20th anniversary of implementation of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. We are featuring stories of those who in 1997 campaigned against the repeal of the law adopted by Oregon voters 3 years before. Today we launch the series with an overview of the year as summarized in the 1997 … Continued
Page Williams is a retiree in Houston, Texas. I remember clearly when my father came to visit me in Houston, Texas, following his lung cancer surgery in 1961. He bounced my year-old son on his knee, but he was very weak having had his upper left lung lobe removed. A year later, his cancer had spread … Continued
Regina Stoops is a comedian in San Francisco, California; her mother lives in Normal, Illinois. This story first appeared at our Facebook page. Most of us would like to somehow have a choice in how we “go,” and it’s our own personal belief as to where exactly we may be “going.” Sadly, more often than not, the choice is … Continued
Update: District of Columbia’s Death with Dignity Act passed in 2017. Mary Klein is a retired journalist and artist in Washington, DC. A fundamental human right is control over our own bodies. That control is a critical aspect of freedom. All of us should be able to make our own path in life, including how we decide to … Continued
Nora Miller is a death with dignity advocate in Phoenix, Arizona. My husband Rick and I talked about death with dignity in general terms in 1996 when my mother died in pain and struggling for breath, and then again during the debates and publicity around the 1997 ballot initiative on Oregon’s law. We both agreed we’d … Continued
Frances D. is a retired hospice nurse in Texas. My husband Bill was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in April 2014 and spent the next eight months in agony as the cancer spread. The medications he received from hospice near the end could barely dull the pain. I spent those days being his nurse and companion, … Continued
Tammy W. is a software consultant in Charleston, South Carolina. I am a 38-year old woman living with Stage IV ovarian cancer. For months in early 2013 doctors had been unable to figure why I was getting sicker and sicker to the point where I didn’t know if I was going to be alive from one … Continued
Just over twenty years ago, on November 8, 1994, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize “physician assisted suicide.” On that day, by a margin of 51 to 49 percent, voters passed the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, a ballot initiative now codified at ORS 127.800-127.897. The Death with Dignity Act permits state licensed, Drug Enforcement Administration … Continued