Medical aid in dying was enacted in New Jersey on August 1, 2019.
On January 9, 2024, Assemblymember Herb Conaway introduced bill A1880, which waives or reduces the waiting period between requests for medical aid in dying if the person is not expected to survive that time frame. A companion bill (S3588) was introduced by Senator John Burzichelli on Sept. 19, 2024. The bills were referred to the Assembly Health Committee and Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, respectively.
Threats to the law: A bill that would repeal NJ’s Medical Aid in Dying Act (A407), and a bill making it a crime of the first degree to coerce a patient to request medical aid in dying or forge a patient’s request for medical aid in dying (A406) were both introduced in the 2024-2025 session. Both bills were referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
New Jersey Death with Dignity is a 501c3 organization that provides services, education, and end-of-life advocacy
Despite this decision, access to medical aid in dying remains a critically important option for all terminally ill people who wish to receive healthcare in the state of New Jersey,
Lifelong New Jerseyan Reverend Gillian McAllister, a nondenominational minister since the ‘90s, died on March 2, 2025 in Delaware. She was instrumental in passing the New Jersey medical aid-in-dying law, although she was unable to use it herself at the end of her life.
Brief Argues Court’s Unwarranted Assumptions Led to Incorrect Ruling
The appeal, filed on behalf of Judy Govatos, a Delaware resident with incurable stage-4 lymphoma and Dr. Paul Bryman, a New Jersey-based physician, asserts that the residency mandate violates the U.S. Constitution by denying non-residents access to this compassionate end-of-life option solely based on their state of residence.
La apelación fue presentada en nombre de Judy Govatos, residente de Delaware quien padece linfoma incurable en etapa 4, así como por el Dr. Paul Bryman, médico con sede en Nueva Jersey. La apelación afirma que el mandato de residencia viola la Constitución de los Estados Unidos al negarle el acceso a esta opción compasiva para el fin de vida a las personas que no son residentes, basándose únicamente por su estado de residencia.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed in August 2023 by Compassion & Choices on behalf of terminally-ill cancer patients in Delaware and Pennsylvania and two New Jersey doctors asserting the residency requirement in New Jersey’s medical aid-in-dying law violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment.
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.
Compassion & Choices agradece a la Corte Suprema de Nueva Jersey por rechazar una apelación de un fallo del Tribunal Estatal de Apelaciones emitido en junio del 2022, que afirma la desestimación de una demanda que busca revocar la ley de ayuda médica para morir estatal del 2019. La ley de Nueva Jersey permite a los adultos…
Ruling ends five-year legal battle that briefly suspended law in 2019, harming dying patients. Compassion & Choices appreciates the New Jersey Supreme Court for rejecting an appeal of a state Appellate Court ruling issued in June 2022 affirming the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s 2019 medical aid-in-dying law. The New Jersey law…
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Compassion & Choices is a 501 C3 organization. Federal tax number: 84-1328829
