To amend sections 3705.16, 3795.03, and 3795.04 and to enact sections 313.124, 3793.01, 3793.02, 3793.03, 3793.04, 3793.05, 3793.06, 3793.07, 3793.08, 3793.09, 3793.10, 3793.11, 3793.12, 3793.13, 3793.14, 3793.15, 3793.16, 3793.17, 3793.18, 3793.19, 3793.20, 3793.21, and 4729.97 of the Revised Code to authorize an individual with a terminal condition and the ability to make and communicate health care decisions to request a prescription for an aid-in-dying medication and to name this act the Ohio Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Act.
HB835 would create the Ohio Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Act and establish a new chapter of the Revised Code governing when a terminally ill adult may request a prescription for an aid-in-dying medication. The bill allows an Ohio resident age 18 or older, diagnosed with a medically confirmed terminal condition expected to cause death within six months, and found capable of making and communicating health care decisions, to obtain such a prescription after making oral and written requests, receiving required disclosures, and being evaluated by a consulting physician. It also requires counseling on alternatives such as hospice, palliative care, comfort care, pain control, and disease-directed treatment, and permits a mental health assessment if there are concerns about impaired judgment due to a mental disorder.
The bill sets detailed procedural safeguards and documentation requirements for attending physicians, consulting physicians, mental health professionals, witnesses, and pharmacies. It requires the Department of Health to create request forms, collect annual reporting data, and publish statistical reports, while keeping patient-level information confidential. It also directs how death certificates and coroner investigations should be handled when a death results from self-administered aid-in-dying medication, including providing that such deaths are not to be certified as suicide or homicide and are to be recorded as caused by the underlying terminal condition. The bill further protects participants from civil, criminal, disciplinary, and insurance consequences when acting in good faith under the chapter, and it allows health care facilities and providers to opt out of participation with notice requirements.
HB835 would significantly affect Ohio law by adding a new statutory framework for medical aid in dying and by conforming related laws on vital records, coroner duties, assisted suicide, pharmacy disposal of unused medication, and insurance treatment of such deaths. It would also amend existing law to clarify that comfort care, palliative care, and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment remain lawful, while carving out good-faith compliance with the new chapter from Ohio’s assisted-suicide prohibition. The bill would create new rights for qualified patients and new duties for physicians, facilities, and the Department of Health, while expressly stating that no one is required to participate.
The general sentiment reflected in the bill text is strongly supportive of patient autonomy, end-of-life choice, and procedural safeguards. The measure is framed in dignified terms and repeatedly emphasizes voluntariness, informed consent, and protection against coercion. Because the bill was only introduced and there are no recorded committee transcripts or votes in the provided materials, there is no direct evidence of legislative support or opposition in the available history.
The main points of contention likely concern the moral, ethical, religious, and medical implications of physician-assisted dying, as well as whether the safeguards are sufficient to prevent coercion or misuse. The bill anticipates some of these concerns by preserving provider conscience rights, allowing facilities to prohibit participation on their premises, and excluding the practice from being labeled suicide, homicide, euthanasia, or elder abuse. Potential opponents would likely focus on the creation of a legal pathway for intentionally ending life, while supporters would emphasize terminal illness, patient choice, and end-of-life dignity.
HB835 would create a new Chapter 3793 governing medical aid in dying and would amend existing vital records, assisted-suicide, and pharmacy statutes to integrate that framework into Ohio law. It would change how deaths from self-administered aid-in-dying medication are certified and reported, require Department of Health rulemaking and annual reporting, and protect participants and insurers from adverse legal or contractual consequences when the act is carried out in compliance with the chapter. It would also preserve provider and facility refusal rights while establishing a regulated process for qualified terminally ill adults to obtain and self-administer aid-in-dying medication.
The bill’s tone and structure indicate a pro-autonomy, pro-choice approach to end-of-life care, with extensive procedural safeguards intended to reassure readers that participation is voluntary and carefully regulated. The available record contains no committee testimony or votes, so there is no documented legislative sentiment beyond the bill’s own framing. Based on the text alone, the measure appears designed to appeal to supporters of patient self-determination while addressing concerns from skeptics through opt-out provisions, witness requirements, and medical review steps.
The likely contention centers on whether Ohio should authorize physician-assisted dying at all, with opponents likely objecting on moral, religious, or public-policy grounds and supporters emphasizing dignity and relief for terminally ill patients. Additional disputes may involve the adequacy of safeguards against coercion, the role of mental health screening, how death certificates should be completed, and whether health care facilities should be permitted to prohibit participation. The bill tries to reduce these concerns by requiring multiple physician reviews, witness attestations, the ability to rescind at any time, and explicit protections for providers who decline to participate.