California Governor Newsom signed SB403 on October 3, eliminating the sunset clause of the California End of Life Option Act, making the assisted suicide system for terminally ill adults permanent.
SB403 took immediate effect as it only repealed a provision in the Health and Safety Code that would have led to the termination of the End of Life Option Act. The bill was authored by Democratic State Senator Catherine Blakespear from Encinitas. It received bipartisan support in the state legislature last month. Governor Newsom’s office did not comment publicly when he signed the bill.
Under the End of Life Option Act, California residents who are at least 18 years old, diagnosed with a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less to live, can request a prescription for “aid-in-dying” medication from a physician. Patients must be of sound mind, have made two oral requests at least 48 hours apart, submitted a written request signed by two witnesses, and must self-administer the medication. The law also includes criminal penalties for coercion or undue influence.
The End of Life Option Act was initially signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown in 2015 and took effect in June 2016, making California the fifth state in the U.S. to legalize assisted suicide. As of 2025, Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) has been legalized in Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, California, and the District of Columbia.
According to California Department of Health data, in 2024, a total of 1,591 individuals obtained prescriptions under the MAID program, with 1,032 individuals using the medication to end their lives, including 50 who had obtained prescriptions before 2024. At the time of participation, the majority (about 88%) had received palliative care, with most individuals being over 60 years old, and about two-thirds of cases being cancer patients.
There have been calls to expand the scope of the End of Life Option Act to include certain neurodegenerative disease patients, even if their prognosis exceeds six months, but such proposals were ultimately shelved. Participation in the system is currently voluntary, and many hospitals choose not to participate. The California Department of Health plans to launch a new online form system later this year to streamline the application and reporting process.
Opponents of SB403 include the California Family Council, criticizing that it could lead to a “slippery slope,” normalizing suicide. Greg Burt, the organization’s vice president, stated in a release that removing the sunset clause is equivalent to removing a major safety safeguard.
“This bill sends a chilling message: certain lives are no longer worth protecting,” he said. “If we make assisted suicide permanent, we are telling the elderly, disabled, and those suffering from depression that their lives can be discarded. This is not compassion, this is dehumanizing, this is abandonment.”