The Maine Death with Dignity Act (LD 1313) was signed into law by Governor Janet Mills on June 12, 2019. This victory is a culmination of nearly a decade of work by local activist group Maine Death with Dignity and the Death with Dignity National Center. Maine Death with Dignity leads efforts in the state to implement the law.
Maine Death with Dignity is a 501(c)(3) non-profit providing services, fact-based education, and end-of-life advocacy to people who wish to actively explore the meaning of life through embracing the certainty of death.
A primary program is connecting Mainers to the information they need to make fully-informed decisions and to support patients and providers through the entire aid-in-dying process.
Medical aid in dying is for people who are already dying. It is a lawful medical option for qualified adults with a terminal illness, a prognosis of six months or less to live, who can make their own healthcare decisions and have the ability to take the medication themselves.
Medical aid in dying is not suicide or euthanasia. Compassion & Choices supports people seeking information about lawful end-of-life care options in the United States. We do not provide instructions or guidance for ending your life outside supportive medical care.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, in crisis, or thinking about suicide, help is available right now. You are not alone, and your pain deserves care. Call 988, text 988, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at https://988lifeline.org/chat/
Our Introduction to Medical Aid in Dying state packets help explain the medical aid in dying process in jurisdictions where it is authorized*. Compassion & Choices updated the packets to be the most comprehensive resource for those wanting to understand or use medical aid-in-dying laws.
Because, frustratingly, it isn’t always the case, seeing the will of the people reflected in legislative action feels encouraging, regardless of the near-term outcome. And every success helps move the movement forward. Aid-in-dying bills in both Nevada and Maine – states which boast 72 and 70 percent support among residents for the option respectively –…
The Maine House of Representatives voted against LD 347, an Act Supporting Death with Dignity, also known as medical aid in dying, today by a vote of 61 to 85. The Senate advanced the legislation last Thursday by a vote of 16 to 15. Medical aid in dying is an end-of-life medical practice in which…
The Maine Senate advanced LD 347, an Act Supporting Death with Dignity, also known as medical aid in dying, today by a vote of 16 to 15. The bill will now move to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote on it as soon as Friday. In 2015, end-of-life options legislation lost by…
LD 347, an Act Supporting Death with Dignity, was heard today by Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services. Sen. Roger Katz (R-Augusta) who introduced the bill, testified at the hearing along with Compassion & Choices supporters. The bill will next be reviewed in a “Work Session” of the committee. Medical aid…
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