The Magnificent Six: D.C. Death with Dignity Act Goes into Effect

It’s over—for now anyway.

The review period for Congress to disapprove of the Washington, D.C. Death with Dignity Act expires today. Beginning on Monday, terminally ill D.C. residents will have Death with Dignity among their end-of-life options.

The District of Columbia is the 6th jurisdiction in the country to enact an Oregon-style assisted dying statute!

Two Years of Campaigning and Advocacy Work

Two years and three days after we first started working with the law’s sponsor, Councilmember Mary Cheh, to make this end-of-life option available to District residents, I am proud and honored to see our advocacy bear fruit.

We are also grateful. Thanks to you—your emails and calls to your Representatives and Senators, your generous contributions to our effort, your words of support—the same members of Congress who preach states’ rights and individual freedoms will not get to impose their personal views on the 680,000 residents of our nation’s capital. Your advocacy is proof that we have the power to make change if we show up.

The Battle Ahead

If it looks like we are not running a full victory lap today, there’s a reason. The members of Congress who failed to block the D.C. law through the disapproval process are taking the fight to the next round. Using Congress’ power over the District’s budget, they will attempt to use the appropriations process to gut the funding for the Death with Dignity Act.

We will keep up the resistance to any efforts to roll back the D.C. Death with Dignity Act. We’ll continue working with D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Councilmember Mary Cheh, and Congressional delegations from Oregon and other states with Death with Dignity laws to defend and protect D.C.’s local law.

We won’t let Congress deny D.C. residents their legal end-of-life options; we won’t let these zealot members of Congress get their way. Please chip in to the fight for D.C. residents to have the right to decide how they will live their final days.

Today we celebrate the victory for Death with Dignity in Washington, D.C. Tomorrow we get back to work again to defend the gains we’ve made, in the District and all across the nation.

Thank you for your support.