Frequently Asked Questions

• Death With Dignity:This term originates from the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, the first U.S. law permitting MAiD. It is often used interchangeably with MAiD but is specific to state-based legislative efforts. We prefer to not use the term “death with dignity” because we don’t want to imply that terminally ill adults choosing not to pursue MAiD are choosing an undignified death, which is simply untrue.

• Physician-Assisted Suicide: This term, if used to refer to MAiD, is inaccurate and misleading because it equates MAiD with suicide. MAiD is not considered suicide. Suicide generally involves people who could otherwise continue living but choose to end their lives, often due to mental health conditions.

  In contrast, MAiD is an option for individuals already dying from a terminal illness. Additionally, the role of medical providers in jurisdictions where MAiD is legally authorized is to determine patient’s competency and prognosis, and (if applicable) to prescribe the medication (which the patient must self-administer).

MAiD laws require that the cause of death on the death certificate of those who’ve opted to use MAiD be listed as the underlying condition that caused the person to be terminally ill, and not listed as suicide or MAiD. 

More information on this topic can be found here.

Medical Aid in Dying is currently authorizedin these jurisdictions.

According to a 2020 Gallup Poll, 74% of Americans support the option of MAiD. Support is high across all demographic groups surveyed.

More than one in five Americans live in a jurisdiction where MAiD is authorized.

Both Compassion and Choices and Death With Dignity offer resources on the status of MAiD nationally.

A very small number of adults with terminal illness choose to initiate the MAiD process.

Of those who obtain the medication, 30% of them never take it. For patients with a terminal illness, having access to MAiD provides a great deal of comfort in offering them a sense of freedom, peace of mind, and control.