# Oregon Death with Dignity Act (1997)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/law-oregon-death-with-dignity-act/  
OnCo record `law-oregon-death-with-dignity-act` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Oregon's 1997 law allows a capable adult with a terminal disease expected to cause death within six months to request medication they take themselves to end their life, after a voluntary written request confirmed by two physicians.

## Summary

United States, Oregon, state statute (ORS 127.800 to 127.897). The Oregon Health Authority states that Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act on 27 October 1997, allowing terminally ill individuals to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose, and requiring the Authority to collect information and publish an annual report.

Under ORS 127.805, an adult (18 or over) who is capable and has been determined by the attending and consulting physicians to be suffering from a terminal disease, and who has voluntarily expressed the wish to die, may make a written request for the medication. A terminal disease is an incurable and irreversible disease, medically confirmed, that will within reasonable medical judgement produce death within six months. No one qualifies solely because of age or disability. An informed decision requires being told of feasible alternatives, including comfort care, hospice care and pain control.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: Oregon Death with Dignity Act; ORS 127.800 to 127.897
- Tags: law; us

## Sources

- Oregon Health Authority: Death with Dignity Act: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/providerpartnerresources/evaluationresearch/deathwithdignityact/pages/index.aspx
- ORS chapter 127 (Oregon Legislature): https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html

## Connected records

- terms: [Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill](https://onco.cc/terms/law-scotland-assisted-dying-bill/), [California End of Life Option Act (2015)](https://onco.cc/terms/law-california-end-of-life-option-act/), [Medical assistance in dying in Canada (Criminal Code, section 241.2)](https://onco.cc/terms/law-canada-maid/), [Netherlands Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act (2001)](https://onco.cc/terms/law-netherlands-euthanasia-act/), [Spain Organic Law 3/2021 regulating euthanasia](https://onco.cc/terms/law-spain-euthanasia-act/), [Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (England and Wales)](https://onco.cc/terms/law-england-wales-terminally-ill-adults-bill/), [Victoria Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Australia)](https://onco.cc/terms/law-victoria-voluntary-assisted-dying-act/), [Washington Death with Dignity Act (Initiative 1000, 2008)](https://onco.cc/terms/law-washington-death-with-dignity-act/)
- technologies: [Hospice and end-of-life care](https://onco.cc/technologies/hospice-end-of-life/)

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