Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)
About MAID
Medical aid in dying is currently authorized in 13 states—Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, New Mexico, Delaware, Illinois, and New York—as well as Washington, D.C.
While requirements vary somewhat by jurisdiction, qualified clinicians must confirm that a patient meets the eligibility requirements and is making an informed decision. Patients are also provided information about other end-of-life care options, which may include comfort care, hospice, palliative care, and pain and symptom management.
Learn more about the Elizabeth Whitefield End of Life Options Act. We can help you get through the process. If you need help, contact us for support.
Medical Aid in Dying and suicide are NOT the same
The American Association of Suicidology, a national organization dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide, distinguishes medical aid in dying from suicide.
AAS describes suicide and medical aid in dying as conceptually, medically, and legally different phenomena, while recognizing that careful assessment and appropriate safeguards remain important in end-of-life decision-making.
The organization also recommends avoiding the term “physician-assisted suicide,” which it says can conflate two distinct circumstances.
Learn more: American Association of Suicidology article: Physician Aid in Dying and their website’s stated positition and clarification on Medical Assistance in Dying and Death with Dignity.
RESOURCES:
By: Lonny Shavelson, MD, American Academy of Medical Aid in Dying (aadm.org). Medical Aid in Dying: A Guide for Patients and Their Supporters, originated from the questions, interests, and needs of dying patients, their families, their loved ones, and the many others who support them. Its goal is to demystify and facilitate the process of medical aid in dying. Read online here: at jaidm.com. Updated August, 2026.
Compassion and Choices
improves care, expands options, and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. C&C works across the nation in communities, state legislatures, Congress, courts and medical settings to: educate the public about the importance of documenting end-of-life values and priorities and about the full range of available options; empower every individual with achievable options, authoritative information and constructive advice for guiding their care and engaging with their providers; advocate for expanded choices, secure and ready access to them and improved medical practice that puts patients first and values quality of life in treatment plans for terminal illness; defend existing end-of-life options from efforts to restrict access. See the Compassion & Choices NM webpage for more about the NM law.
Death With Dignity National Center
aadm.org (formerly American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying) was established as an outgrowth of the successful National Clinicians Conference on Medical Aid in Dying at UC Berkeley, February 14/15, 2020. This non-profit informs and educates clinicians about medical aid in dying, from clinical discussions to evidence-based knowledge, from nursing care to the work of volunteers at the bedside, from medical ethics to pharmacology, and more.