Death with dignity is not legal in Wisconsin. No state law authorizes a physician to prescribe life-ending medication to a terminally ill patient, and the most recent bill to change that died in committee in 2026. Wisconsin residents do keep the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment through tools like do-not-resuscitate orders, but refusing treatment is legally distinct from medical aid in dying, which involves a terminally ill person obtaining and self-administering a prescribed lethal dose.1FindLaw. Death With Dignity Laws by State Euthanasia, in which a doctor or third party directly administers the dose, is prohibited in all 50 states.
What the Proposed Wisconsin Law Would Allow
Democratic lawmakers have twice introduced the “Our Care, Our Options Act,” modeled closely on Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, which has been in effect since 1997.2Nolo. Wisconsin’s Compassionate Choices Act If passed in its current form, it would let a qualifying patient request and self-administer medication to end their life.
Who Would Be Eligible
A person would need to meet every one of the following:
- 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 cannot rest on age or disability alone.
How the Request Would Work
The patient would have to make two oral requests to a healthcare provider, separated by at least 15 days, plus a written request signed in front of a qualified witness who is not a relative or an estate beneficiary.3Compassion & Choices. Wisconsin Bill Summary The 15-day waiting period can be waived if the patient is expected to die within that window.2Nolo. Wisconsin’s Compassionate Choices Act Two providers would independently confirm the diagnosis, prognosis, mental capacity, and absence of coercion, and if either had concerns about decision-making ability, a mental health evaluation would be required.
The patient must take the medication themselves. Administration by intravenous injection or infusion by any other person is explicitly prohibited.3Compassion & Choices. Wisconsin Bill Summary A surrogate decision-maker, healthcare power of attorney, or advance directive cannot be used to request the medication on another person’s behalf.2Nolo. Wisconsin’s Compassionate Choices Act A patient may withdraw the request at any point and is under no obligation to take the medication once it has been prescribed.
Protections and Record-Keeping
Providers and pharmacists who participate in good faith would receive civil and criminal immunity, but no provider or pharmacist would be required to participate. Those who decline would still need to document the request and transfer records if asked.4WTMJ. Proposed Bill Would Legalize Assisted Suicide in Wisconsin Coercing someone into making a request, or forging one, would be a crime.3Compassion & Choices. Wisconsin Bill Summary
The underlying terminal illness, not the medication, would appear as the cause of death on the death certificate, and life insurers would be barred from denying payouts, denying benefits, or adjusting rates based on a patient’s use of the law.3Compassion & Choices. Wisconsin Bill Summary4WTMJ. Proposed Bill Would Legalize Assisted Suicide in Wisconsin The bill specifies that ending one’s life under the act would not be classified as suicide.2Nolo. Wisconsin’s Compassionate Choices Act Prescribing providers would report to the state health department, which would publish an annual summary with patient and physician identities kept confidential.
Where the Bill Stands
The first version, AB 781/SB 739, was introduced on December 8, 2023, referred to committee, carried into the 2024 session, and died without a hearing or vote. A 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.5Death with Dignity National Center. Wisconsin Neither committee held a hearing, and the bill did not advance before the session ended.6Death with Dignity National Center. DWD Mid-Session Legislative Map Supporters plan to reintroduce the legislation in the 2027 session.
The lead Senate sponsors are Dianne Hesselbein, Jodi Habush Sinykin, and Kelda Roys. In the Assembly, the primary sponsors are Randy Udell, Alex Joers, and Mike Bare, with several co-sponsors. All are Democrats. In a February 2026 co-sponsorship memo, the sponsors wrote that “individuals with terminal illnesses should be allowed to spend their last days where and with whomever they choose, without being forced to endure additional pain and suffering.”4WTMJ. Proposed Bill Would Legalize Assisted Suicide in Wisconsin
Who Is Opposing the Bill
Organized opposition has come from religious groups and from disability rights advocates, and the bill has struggled to move in a legislature where Republicans control committee agendas.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, formally opposed the legislation in a March 2026 memorandum. Executive Director Barbara Sella urged lawmakers not to co-sponsor, arguing that the bill “kills people who are vulnerable” and turns the medical principle of “do no harm” into the belief that “some lives are not worth living.” The WCC raised concerns about insurers favoring cheaper lethal prescriptions over expensive treatments, the inaccuracy of six-month prognoses, pressure on healthcare workers with moral objections, and expansion of eligibility over time in Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands.7Wisconsin Catholic Conference. WCC Opposes Assisted Suicide Proposal Wisconsin Right to Life has also campaigned against the bill, arguing that legal safeguards in aid-in-dying laws “never remain contained.”8Wisconsin Right to Life. Fast Facts Assisted Suicide
Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights organization, calls the practice “medical discrimination” and “healthcare rationing,” arguing that safeguards erode over time, that medical bias leads doctors to undervalue disabled lives, and that aid in dying can become a cheaper substitute for long-term care. The group frames its opposition as secular, grounded in disability rights rather than religious doctrine.9Access Living. Webinar: Disability Opposition to Assisted Suicide
What Is Legal in Nearby States
Medical aid in dying is now authorized in 13 states and Washington, D.C., with Oregon’s 1997 law as the model.10Oregon Health Authority. Death With Dignity Act FAQs11Compassion & Choices. States Where Medical Aid in Dying Is Authorized Two recent additions matter for Wisconsin residents weighing their options. Illinois became the first Midwestern state to legalize the practice when Governor J.B. Pritzker signed “Deb’s Law” in December 2025, with an effective date of September 12, 2026.12Governor Pritzker Newsroom. Governor Pritzker Signs Bill Expanding End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act was enacted in February 2026 and is scheduled to take effect in August 2026.13The New York Times. Medical Aid in Dying Every one of these state laws, however, restricts eligibility to residents of that state, which the Wisconsin bill would also do.