California assisted-dying law takes effect, health-care providers respond

Somewhere in California on June 9, a terminally ill person may have lifted a glass and consumed a lethal slurry of pulverized prescription pills dissolved in water.

That’s the day the nation’s most populous state implemented the End of Life Option law passed in 2015, which specifically covers only mentally competent adults.

Jesuit seminary–trained Gov. Jerry Brown said when he signed the law: “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”