California: Stephanie Packer

How We Got Here

In 2015, a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia (SB 128) failed to pass in the regular legislative session.

The governor called a special session to address funding for health care.

Proponents of assisted suicide and euthanasia responded by introducing a new bill, ABX2-15, in the special session.

The new bill was enacted into law as the deceptively named "End of Life Options Act."

On May 21, 2018, a Riverside County superior court judge ruled the Act unconstitutional due to its having been illegally enacted in the special session.

On May 24, 2018, judgment was entered declaring the Act void as unconstitutional and prospectively prohibiting its use.

The appeals court countered to reinstate the Act.

Governor Brown signed AB282, amending the California penal code to "prohibit a person whose actions are compliant with the End of Life Option Act from being prosecuted for deliberately aiding, advising, or encouraging suicide."

In 2021, the Act was amended inter alia to extend the law's repeal clause to January 1, 2031.

In February 2024, Senator Catherine Blakespear introduced SB1196 as a placeholder bill, with the intent to expand the End of Life Option Act. The bill was subsequently removed as "too much too soon."

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