H.B. 5417, An Act Concerning End-of-Life Care

Decisions about end of life care are deeply personal. Each terminally ill person should have the right make their own decisions about how to spend their final days and how to face death. This right to individual autonomy when making end of life decisions includes the decision to seek physician-assisted aid in dying, as well as the decision to continue living. The ACLU of Connecticut supports this bill, because we believe all people should have the liberty to make personal, intimate decisions not just about how to live but also about how to die. We further believe this bill includes appropriate safeguards to ensure that any decision to seek aid in dying is fully informed, voluntarily, and not used to further discrimination against people living with disabilities. The ACLU-CT supports this bill and the multiple safeguards it contains.