Death With Dignity in Wisconsin: The Our Care, Our Options Act

Death with dignity is not legal in Wisconsin. The state has no statute authorizing medical aid in dying, and two recent Democratic-led bills to create one have died in committee. The most recent version, the Our Care, Our Options Act, was introduced in February 2026 and never received a hearing; supporters plan to reintroduce it in the 2027 session.¹

What Wisconsin Law Currently Allows

Wisconsin residents can refuse life-sustaining treatment and use instruments like do-not-resuscitate orders. That right is legally distinct from medical aid in dying, which involves a terminally ill patient obtaining and self-administering prescribed medication to end their own life.² No Wisconsin law permits that practice.

Euthanasia, where a physician or third party directly administers a lethal dose, is prohibited in all 50 states, including any state that has legalized aid in dying.²

The Our Care, Our Options Act

Wisconsin Democrats have introduced this legislation twice. The first version, AB 781/SB 739, was introduced on December 8, 2023, referred to committee, and carried into 2024, where it died without a hearing or vote.¹ The successor, AB 1164/SB 1114, was introduced on February 27, 2026. SB 1114 went to the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs, and AB 1164 went to the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care. Neither committee scheduled the bill, and it did not advance before the session ended.³

Lead Senate sponsors include Dianne Hesselbein, Jodi Habush Sinykin, and Kelda Roys. Lead Assembly sponsors include Randy Udell, Alex Joers, and Mike Bare. All are Democrats.⁴

Who Would Qualify

The bill is modeled closely on Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, which has been in effect since 1997.⁵ To qualify under the proposal, a person would need to be:

At least 18 years old
A Wisconsin resident
Diagnosed with a terminal condition expected to result in death within six months
Capable of making and communicating informed healthcare decisions

Eligibility could not be based solely on age or disability.

How the Request Process Would Work

A qualifying patient would make two oral requests to a healthcare provider separated by at least 15 days, plus a written request signed before a qualified witness who is not a relative or estate beneficiary.⁶ The 15-day waiting period could be waived if the patient was expected to die within that window.⁵

Two healthcare providers would independently confirm the diagnosis, prognosis, mental capacity, and absence of coercion. If either had concerns about the patient’s decision-making ability, a mental health evaluation would be required.⁶

The patient would have to self-administer the medication. Administration by intravenous injection or infusion by any person would be explicitly prohibited, and no surrogate, healthcare power of attorney, or advance directive could request the medication on someone else’s behalf.⁶⁵ A patient could withdraw the request at any time and would be under no obligation to take the medication once prescribed.

Protections in the Bill

Participating providers and pharmacists would receive civil and criminal immunity for acting in good faith, but participation would be voluntary. Providers who declined would have to document the request and transfer records if asked. Coercing a request or forging one would be a criminal offense.⁴⁶

Death certificates would list the underlying terminal illness as the cause of death, and the bill states that ending one’s life under the act would not be classified as suicide.⁵⁶⁴ Prescribing providers would report data to the state health department, which would publish an annual report with patient and physician identities kept confidential.

Who Opposes the Bill

The Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, formally opposed the 2026 legislation in a March memorandum. Executive Director Barbara Sella said the bill “kills people who are vulnerable” and transforms the medical principle of “do no harm” into the belief that “some lives are not worth living.” The WCC also raised concerns about insurers favoring cheaper lethal prescriptions over expensive treatments, the inaccuracy of terminal prognoses, and pressure on healthcare workers with moral objections, and it pointed to Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands as jurisdictions where eligibility has expanded beyond original limits.⁷

Wisconsin Right to Life has also campaigned against the bill, arguing that legal safeguards in aid-in-dying laws “never remain contained.”⁸

National disability rights groups have long opposed this kind of legislation on secular grounds, and their arguments feature in the Wisconsin debate. Not Dead Yet frames the practice as “medical discrimination” and “healthcare rationing,” arguing that statutory safeguards weaken over time, that medical biases lead doctors to undervalue disabled lives, and that assisted death can become a cheaper substitute for long-term care. Anita Cameron, the group’s Director of Minority Outreach, has said communities of color face healthcare disparities that make them particularly vulnerable to such pressures.⁹

How Wisconsin Compares

Medical aid in dying is authorized in 13 states and Washington, D.C. Oregon was first: voters approved the Death with Dignity Act in 1994, and the law took effect in 1997.¹⁰ Most states that followed use a similar framework: a terminal diagnosis with a six-month prognosis, mental capacity requirements, multiple requests with a waiting period, and self-administration.¹¹

The two most recent additions matter for Wisconsin’s debate. Illinois became the first Midwest state to legalize the practice in December 2025 when Governor J.B. Pritzker signed “Deb’s Law,” effective September 12, 2026.¹² New York followed in February 2026, with its Medical Aid in Dying Act scheduled to take effect in August 2026. By late 2026, nearly a third of the U.S. population will live in states where the practice is legal.¹³

Public Opinion

No Wisconsin-specific polling on medical aid in dying is publicly available. National polling has shown consistent majority support. A 2024 Gallup poll found 66% of Americans believe doctors should be allowed by law to help a terminally ill patient in severe pain end their life, up from a trend low of 51% earlier in the decade. Support rose to 71% when the question was framed around euthanasia more broadly. On the moral question, 53% said doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.¹⁵

1
Death with Dignity National Center. Wisconsin
2
FindLaw. Death With Dignity Laws by State
3
Death with Dignity National Center. DWD Mid-Session Legislative Map
4
WTMJ. Proposed Bill Would Legalize Assisted Suicide in Wisconsin
5
Nolo. Wisconsin’s Compassionate Choices Act
6
Compassion & Choices. Wisconsin Bill Summary
7
Wisconsin Catholic Conference. WCC Opposes Assisted Suicide Proposal
8
Wisconsin Right to Life. Fast Facts Assisted Suicide
9
Access Living. Webinar: Disability Opposition to Assisted Suicide
10
Oregon Health Authority. Death With Dignity Act FAQs
11
Compassion & Choices. States Where Medical Aid in Dying Is Authorized
12
Governor Pritzker Newsroom. Governor Pritzker Signs Bill Expanding End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients
13
The New York Times. Medical Aid in Dying
14
CSG Midwest. Illinois Will Soon Be First Midwest State Allowing End-of-Life Option for Terminally Ill Patients
15
Gallup. Americans Favor Legal Euthanasia