Is California’s assisted suicide law fair to people with disabilities?

Lawsuit filed against state officials over End-of-Life Option Act

The pandemic raised fears for some people with disabilities – they claimed they couldn't get the medical care they needed. Now, groups are saying California's assisted suicide law also devalues their lives, and one group of people with disabilities have filed a lawsuit to upend California’s assisted suicide law.  They point out that the bias they faced during the pandemic illustrates how quick the system is to offer death as an alternative.

The lawsuit was filed in April of 2023 by four disability rights groups — United Spinal Association, which advocates for veterans and others with spinal cord injuries; Not Dead Yet and the Institute for Patients' Rights, two groups that oppose assisted suicide laws; and CALIF, a Los Angeles nonprofit run by people with disabilities. Disability Organizations and Individuals Partner to Fight the Deadly and Discriminatory Public Policy of Physician-Assisted Suicide (prnewswire.com)

A spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health, the agency that keeps the statistics on who uses the assisted suicide law, said it "doesn’t comment on litigation.”

The issue at the heart of the lawsuit is that California's 7-year-old End of Life Option Act, designed to allow terminally ill people to choose to get lethal drugs to end their life, puts disabled people at greater risk of being coerced into seeking assisted suicide.  Their lack of access to care might also be the trigger for them to want to end their lives.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, argues that the state's assisted suicide law violates due process protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and violates the anti-discrimination provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Ingrid Tischer, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, lives with a form of muscular dystrophy.  She was hospitalized for pneumonia in 2021, but when she asked for therapy to regain her strength, the doctor said she didn't qualify.

"He kind of looked at me and said, 'Well, I mean, look at you, there's nothing we can do for you. And you've known this is coming for a long time. So why are you surprised?'" Tischer says.

Tischer, who was 55 then, says she was devastated. She thought she was facing the end of her life. If a doctor had told her she should apply for California's assisted suicide law, she says she might well have said yes.

No doctor ever suggested that to Tischer. The lawsuit doesn't mention any cases of that kind of coercion.  Tischer, instead, got another doctor, who gave her a different diagnosis. She left the hospital and recovered.

A Fear Of “Steering” For Those Having Trouble Accessing Care

Tischer and the other plaintiffs raise fears of a subtle kind of discrimination — what Michael Bien, the lawyer who filed the challenge, calls "steering." Bien says people who have difficulty getting the care they need may feel compelled, instead, to seek assisted suicide as their best option.