Stewart Florsheim: MAiD in California

After helping his mother through the process of medical aid in dying, Stewart Florsheim wants to spread awareness of the options available to Californians.

Why do so few Californians take advantage of medical aid in dying?

Mortality magazine recently published a study showing the difference in usage between Canada and California. The comparison makes sense for several reasons. California and Canada have about the same number of people. Both jurisdictions legalized medical aid in dying in 2016 and they also have similar medical systems. Yet in 2022, over 13,000 Canadians took advantage of the law, while only 853 Californians did. So why the big difference?

The study points to two main factors:
• First, only 25% of Californians aged 60 and over even know the law exists, compared to 67% of Canadians.
• Second, is a major difference in the way Californian and Canadian medical systems make information about the law available to the public.

There are several reasons for this, and I believe the main one is cultural: Americans don’t like to talk about death! There’s even evidence to suggest that, for many reasons, physicians are reluctant to mention the law to their terminally-ill patients.

I first became involved with this issue several years ago when my mother was diagnosed with ALS. She had survived the Holocaust, and told me she did not want to take this on. She asked me to help her. She lived in New York, where medical aid in dying is still not legal. We researched every option, and were finally advised to stockpile morphine patches. At the time of her choosing—and when she could still move—she would have to place them all over her body, and stop eating and drinking.

Lucky for my mother, she died on her own, which is often the case for people who even have the life-ending medication. She would have been relieved to have the option that Californians are fortunate enough to have today.

With a Perspective, I’m Stewart Florsheim.

Stewart Florsheim is a writer, teacher, and content strategist living in the East Bay.