Professor Pope - Expert Witness on Medical Aid in Dying
In 2022, I submitted testimony in a federal lawsuit chalenging that the California End of Life Option Act fails to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilitis Act. The EOLOA prohibits assisting a patient who cannot complete self-administration of her MAID medications. But the ADA requires that very assistance.
The issues in the litigation are discussed in 13 articles in the September 2023 issue of the American Journal of Bioethics.
Opponents to medical aid in dying filed this lawsuit on the day the California End of Life Options Act went into effect, June 9, 2016. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the EOLOA. The court denied to temporarily enjoin the EOLOA pending the outcome of the litigation. But on May 15, 2018, the court indicated it would grant the plaintiffs' motion for judgment on the pleadings.