SB 1196 (Blakespear, D-Encinitas)

SB 1196 would have altered provisions of the End of Life Option Act, including replacing the term “terminal disease” for the purposes of an individual qualifying to use the act with “grievous and irremediable medical condition.” This replacement term would have included dementia if the individual meets specified capacity requirements. The bill would have authorized the self-administration of an aid-in-dying drug through intravenous injection and would have also repealed the act’s Jan. 1, 2031, expiration date. The provision allowing hospitals to prohibit their employees and health care providers from participating in physician-assisted death during work hours or on hospital property remains in statute and would not have been altered by this bill.