News

A free resource for both ordained and lay faith leaders to bring thoughtful programming around end-of-life topics to their congregations.

For more than 30 years, Compassion & Choices has worked to ensure that people can make informed decisions about the kind of healthcare they want as they approach the end of life. That includes end-of-life options like medical aid in dying, a medical practice for qualified adults dying from a terminal illness.

Today, those choices face growing legal and political threats.

Living in sunny Naples, Florida, Janina Birtolo had a rewarding life and career as a writer, journalist, and actor. But in her 60s, she was diagnosed with advanced emphysema—a progressive lung condition—and developed symptoms so severe that she became depressed.  Janina’s health deteriorated to the point where she rarely left her home. Managing her symptoms…

In a recent decision that could have far-reaching consequences for people facing serious illness, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the rights of Medicaid enrollees to challenge harmful restrictions on their healthcare options. The case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, centered on whether individuals have the ability to enforce the Medicaid Act’s “free-choice-of-provider” provision…

“They cleaned out his house, they kept everyone from the funeral service, and they buried him, honoring a life that wasn’t true to who he was.” That’s how Osha Towers, LGBTQ+ Outreach Director for Compassion & Choices, describes what happened to a colleague’s partner, a man who died without an advance directive. “Immediately, his family…

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a troubling decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, ruling that Medicaid enrollees do not have the right to enforce the Medicaid Act’s “free-choice-of-provider” provision. The decision weakens the legal protections that allow individuals to challenge harmful state policies that cut off access to care. The case has…

Advocates from Compassion & Choices and their allies voiced their outrage following the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government’s (FSGG) inclusion of language that would repeal Death with Dignity in Washington, DC and prevent the DC Council from adopting any such laws in the future. The House Appropriations Committee’s Republican Majority…

Stacey Gibson of Garrison, in New York’s Hudson Valley, joined the end-of-life options movement in 2015 after her husband, Sid, died a horrible death after he stopped eating and drinking in the final stages of a debilitating progressive neurological disease. Among the vanguard of New York’s volunteers for the entire decade-long legislative campaign, Stacey shared…

Last month, Virginians showed the highest voter turnout since the 1990s for a primary without a gubernatorial nomination, according to preliminary data from the Virginia Public Access Project. Looking ahead to November, Compassion & Choices recognizes this moment as a rare and urgent opportunity to advance the end-of-life options movement not just in VA but…