Death with dignity is not currently legal in Minnesota. Helping another person end their life remains a felony under state law, even when the person is terminally ill and asking for that help. A bill called the End-of-Life Option Act would change that by creating a regulated process for terminally ill adults to request life-ending medication, and a new version was introduced in the 2025–2026 session after an earlier version advanced further than any before it. Until the legislature passes it, the answer for Minnesotans facing a terminal diagnosis is no.
What Minnesota Law Says Today
Minnesota Statutes Section 609.215 makes it a felony to assist another person in taking their own life. A conviction carries up to 15 years in prison, a $30,000 fine, or both.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.215 – Suicide The statute once also criminalized advising or encouraging suicide, but the Minnesota Supreme Court struck those provisions down in State v. Melchert-Dinkel as a First Amendment violation. The ban on physical assistance survived and is still enforced.2Justia Law. State v. Melchert-Dinkel
The law draws a line between assisting a suicide and providing end-of-life comfort care. A doctor who prescribes pain medication that may hasten death is not violating the statute, so long as the medication is not knowingly given to cause death. Withdrawing life-sustaining treatment under a patient’s health care directive or living will is also not treated as aiding a suicide.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.215 – Suicide What Minnesota law does not permit is a physician prescribing a lethal medication that a terminally ill patient could take on their own timing.
The End-of-Life Option Act
The End-of-Life Option Act was introduced in the 2023–2024 session as HF 1930 in the House and SF 1813 in the Senate.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Legislature HF 1930 It moved through more committees than any prior version and cleared the Health Finance and Policy Committee after hours of testimony, but it never reached a full floor vote before the session ended.4Minnesota House of Representatives. Dozens Testify as House Committee Approves End-of-Life Option Act
A new version was introduced in the 94th Legislature (2025–2026) as SF 3215. It closely mirrors the earlier bill and would create a new chapter of Minnesota law, Chapter 145E, establishing a legal framework for terminally ill adults to request and self-administer medication to end their lives. The bill would also amend the existing suicide-assistance statute to exempt actions taken under the new chapter, and it would amend the state’s life insurance code.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. SF 3215 Introduction – 94th Legislature Whether it advances further than the last one is an open question.
Who Would Qualify
The proposed law is narrow. To qualify, a person would need to be at least 18 years old and legally competent, have a terminal disease that a physician expects will result in death within six months, be mentally capable of understanding the diagnosis and the decision, and not be under guardianship or conservatorship.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. SF 3215 Introduction – 94th Legislature The bill states explicitly that no one qualifies solely because of advanced age or disability.6Minnesota House of Representatives. Bill Summary H.F. 1930 First Engrossment
A single doctor’s opinion would not be enough. A second qualified provider, called a consulting provider, would independently review the patient’s medical records and confirm both the diagnosis and the six-month prognosis. If either the attending or consulting provider had any doubt about the patient’s mental capacity, they would be required to refer the patient to a licensed mental health professional before the process could continue.6Minnesota House of Representatives. Bill Summary H.F. 1930 First Engrossment
How the Request and Prescription Would Work
The process would require a patient to make one oral request and one written request to their attending provider, plus a separate oral request to the consulting provider.4Minnesota House of Representatives. Dozens Testify as House Committee Approves End-of-Life Option Act Only the patient can make those requests. No family member, caregiver, or attorney can submit them on the patient’s behalf, and the written request becomes part of the medical record.
If the patient meets every requirement, the attending provider could write a prescription. A pharmacist could dispense the medication to the provider, to the patient, or to someone the patient designates.6Minnesota House of Representatives. Bill Summary H.F. 1930 First Engrossment The patient must self-administer. No doctor, nurse, or family member is permitted to give the medication to the patient. That final act belongs entirely to the patient.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. SF 3215 Introduction – 94th Legislature
Not everyone who fills a prescription uses it. Some patients find comfort simply in having the option. If the patient dies from the underlying illness first or decides not to take the medication, whoever has it must dispose of it in line with state or federal guidelines, typically through a law enforcement drug take-back program.6Minnesota House of Representatives. Bill Summary H.F. 1930 First Engrossment
The bill also builds in state oversight. The attending provider would file a checklist form with the Minnesota Department of Health within 30 days of writing the prescription, and a follow-up form within 60 days of learning the patient had died after taking the medication.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. SF 3215 Introduction – 94th Legislature
Protections for Families and Providers
Life insurance is a real worry for families thinking about this option. The bill amends Minnesota Statutes Section 61A.031 to bar insurers from denying a claim based on a policyholder’s use of medical aid in dying. It also directs that the underlying terminal illness, not the medication, be listed as the cause of death on the death certificate.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. SF 3215 Introduction – 94th Legislature That matters because most life insurance policies contain a suicide exclusion for deaths within the first two years of coverage.
No doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or healthcare facility would be required to participate. A provider or institution that objects on moral or religious grounds must transfer the patient’s medical records so the patient can seek care elsewhere.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. SF 3215 Introduction – 94th Legislature Federal law backs that up: the Affordable Care Act prohibits government or federally funded healthcare entities from discriminating against a provider who declines to participate in assisted suicide.7U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Your Protections Against Discrimination Based on Conscience and Religion Providers who follow the law in good faith would have immunity from civil and criminal liability.
The bill also creates new felonies aimed at anyone who manipulates the process. Falsifying or destroying a medication request or rescission would carry up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Coercing someone into requesting medication through harassment, undue influence, or duress would carry up to ten years and a $20,000 fine. Coercing someone into actually ingesting the medication would carry up to 20 years and a $40,000 fine, rising to 25 years and $50,000 if physical force is involved.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. SF 3215 Introduction – 94th Legislature Those penalties would sit on top of existing murder statutes, not replace them.
Options Available to Terminally Ill Minnesotans Now
Until the law changes, terminally ill Minnesotans still have legal end-of-life choices. Palliative care manages pain and symptoms without necessarily trying to cure the underlying disease and can start at any point during a serious illness. Hospice care provides comfort-focused treatment for patients who have stopped curative treatment, usually when life expectancy is six months or less. Minnesota law protects providers who administer pain medication that may shorten life, so long as the intent is comfort rather than causing death.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.215 – Suicide
Patients can also execute a health care directive or living will, instructing providers to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment when recovery is no longer possible. Voluntarily stopping eating and drinking is another option some patients discuss with their care teams, though it involves a longer and more difficult process than aid-in-dying medication provides. None of these options gives a patient the timing control the End-of-Life Option Act would, which is why the push at the Capitol continues.
Where the Practice Is Legal Elsewhere
Medical aid in dying is authorized in more than a dozen U.S. jurisdictions, starting with Oregon in 1994 and Washington in 2008, and including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington D.C., Montana (by court ruling), Delaware and Illinois (2025), and New York (2026). Most of those laws share the same core structure the Minnesota bill uses: a six-month terminal prognosis, multiple requests, mental capacity screening, and self-administration. Some states initially required residency and later dropped that restriction after legal challenges. The available bill summaries for the Minnesota proposal do not include a residency requirement in the eligibility criteria.