This morning, a California judge acted to invalidate the End of Life Option Act.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia granted a motion of the law’s opponents, saying the California State Legislature violated the state constitution by passing the law during a special session limited to healthcare.*
The California Attorney General now has just five days to file an appeal, otherwise the ruling will go into effect and terminally ill Californians will lose the right to die with dignity.
Make no mistake, this is serious.
When the Act went into effect on June 9, 2016, a group of anti-choice physicians filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the Act’s implementation. Judge Ottolia in August 2016 denied their request for an injunction to stop the new law from taking effect. Today, the Judge allowed a portion of the suit to proceed; a trial is set for September 28, 2018.
The law has provided dying Californians with peace of mind and control over their final days for nearly two years. To have it overturned on a technicality goes against everything we have fought for.
We must—and we will—protect the law we worked so hard to pass. Will you chip in to defend the California End of Life Option Act today?
| Yes, I want to defend California’s law |
The people of California have spoken: three in four Californians support the law and the end-of-life option it provides. The shadowy, religious-right groups attempting to derail the law any way they can are not only denying terminally ill patients access to expanded options at the end of life, they are disrespecting the will of the people.
In every state where Death with Dignity laws have been approved, opponents have tried to stop implementation through the courts. Every time, the courts have rejected their challenges and sided with terminally ill patients’ right to make their own choices at the end of life.
We will work closely with the California Attorney General’s office and other allies to provide evidence why overturning the law will cause irreparable harm to people who are going through the process or plan to do so.
We can defend the California law but we cannot do it without you. With your help, we will persist in our efforts to protect dying patients from these frivolous, cruel attacks.
The Death with Dignity National Center is dedicated to defending assisted dying for eligible terminally ill patients everywhere. Help us win today.
Thank you.
*Read more about today’s news: L.A. Times; Sacremento Bee; San Francisco Chronicle; ABC News
Featured image by Brian Wilkins.
One comment.
Wes Farley
My mother is terminally ill and currently a shell of herself that is suffering immensely. She cannot move, talk, eat or drink, Her organs are shutting down and has no control. She has not had a bowel movement for two week and her stomach is swollen to a large beach ball. This is a cruel and unjust death sentence to a loving and caring mother. I do not understand why anyone would vote against the death with dignity act. I would not want anyone to go through this painful and morbid death sentence that my beloved mother has to go through. I do not want this to happen to you, why did you want this for my mother and family?
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