Definitions U.S. Historical Perspective and Current Trends Alaska Alaska Chronology California California Chronology California Death With Dignity Act Florida Florida Chronology Hawaii Hawaii Chronology Maine Maine Chronology Michigan Kevorkian Chronology Michigan Chronology Proposal B - Michigan's Ballot Initiative on Assisted Suicide New Hampshire New Hampshire Aid-in-Dying Act New Hampshire Chronology New York New York Chronology Oregon 1st Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (1998) 2nd Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (1999) 3rd Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2000) 4th Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2001) 5th Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2002) Background of PAS in Oregon Eighth Annual Report on Assisted Suicide in Oregon. Executive Summary of the 5th Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2002) How Do Oregon Psychologists View Their Role in Physician-Assisted Suicide? Measure 16 - Oregon Death With Dignity Act Oregon Chronology Oregon Physicians Attitudes About and Experiences With End-of-Life Care Since Passage of the Oregon Death With Dignity Act Oregon's Assisted Suicide Experience: Safeguards Don't Work Physician-Assisted Suicide: Reflections on Oregon's First Case Suicide in the West The Oregon Report: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Vermont Vermont Chronology Washington Initiative 119 - Washington Death With Dignity Act Washington Chronology |
California Chronology 1988
- The California-based Americans Against Human Suffering, a Hemlock Society spin-off group, failed to qualify the Humane and Dignified Death Act (HDDA) for the November 1988 ballot in California. The HDDA was the first attempt in the U.S. to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia by voter approval.
1992
- Californians Against Human Suffering announced that it had collected enough signatures to place a Death with Dignity Act on the November 1992 ballot. The initiative was titled Proposition 161 and was very similar to the failed Washington Initiative 119.
- California voters rejected Proposition 161 to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide by a vote of 54% to 46%.
1995
- The Hemlock Society of Northern California became the 7th of 87 national Hemlock chapters to expand their support of euthanasia to include non-terminal patients.
1996
- Los Angeles Federal District Court Judge Consuelo Marshall struck down California's ban on assisted suicide, relying on Washington v. Glucksberg, a landmark 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case holding that terminally ill patients have a right under the federal Constitution to decide when and how to die. However, Judge Marshall never issued an order to bar enforcement of the ban on assisted suicide and the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently overturned the 9th Circuit decision. Judge Marshall also relied on a 1992 California Court of Appeals decision to hold that assisted suicide is not protected by California's explicit constitutional "right to privacy."
Posted on June 26, 2004. |
