That's the share of Americans who will live in states where medical aid in dying is legal by September 2026, when Illinois' new law takes effect, making it the 13th state plus Washington, D.C., to authorize terminally ill patients to end their lives with a lethal prescription. New York's law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in February after a decadelong legislative fight, takes effect Aug. 5. To qualify, patients must have a terminal diagnosis with six months or less to live, make oral and written requests to two doctors with mandatory waiting periods, have the mental capacity to decide, and self-administer the medication without assistance. The expansion has drawn fierce opposition — Pope Leo XIV personally asked Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker not to sign the bill — and the American Medical Association calls physician-assisted death "fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer," though a number of state medical organizations have moved to neutral or supportive positions.
