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Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio Medical Aid in Dying Act allows terminally ill adults to request life-ending medication prescriptions
Last action · May 13, 2026: Referred to HealthSponsors: Eric Synenberg and 3 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Ohio House Bill 835 permits mentally competent adult residents diagnosed with a expected to result in death within six months to request, obtain, and . The bill establishes comprehensive safeguards, physician consultation procedures, mandatory waiting periods, and protections against civil or criminal liability for health care providers acting in good faith compliance.
Eligible terminally ill residents gain the legal right to obtain a prescription for medication to end their lives peacefully, while health care facilities and providers are granted the authority to establish policies allowing or prohibiting participation on their premises.
- Medical aid in dying allows mentally competent, terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less to request and self-administer life-ending medication. context
- Prior to this legislation, providing the physical means for suicide was classified as assisting suicide, a felony of the third degree under Ohio law. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Terminally ill adults residing in Ohio
Adult residents with a terminal prognosis gain the legal right to request, obtain, and self-administer aid-in-dying medication under specific statutory conditions.
Attending and consulting physicians
Physicians are authorized to evaluate patients, provide diagnoses, prescribe aid-in-dying medication in good faith, and document compliance without facing criminal prosecution or professional discipline.
Health care facilities and providers
Facilities and providers are empowered to establish internal policies permitting or prohibiting aid-in-dying activities on their premises after providing proper written notice.
Life and health insurance issuers
Insurers are prohibited from altering policy rates, denying coverage, or classifying deaths from aid-in-dying medication as suicide.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to request an aid-in-dying prescription under this act?
Can a family member or legal guardian request an aid-in-dying medication on a patient's behalf?
How does this act affect life insurance policies for a patient who chooses to self-administer the medication?
Can health care facilities prevent doctors from participating in this practice on their premises?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- May 13, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred to Health
- Apr 27, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Establishment of Medical Aid in Dying Framework
The legislation transitions Ohio from a strict prohibition on assisting suicide to an authorized regulatory framework for terminally ill patient self-administration.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance90How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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