Currently, assisted suicide is legal in the ten states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington as well as in the District of Columbia.  Euthanasia, assisted suicide, aid in dying or death with dignity all seek the same result, to allow for people to be killed by medical personnel.  The details of the laws may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but the sole purpose is the take the life of another by administering drugs to end that patient’s life.

Proponents of euthanasia have introduced bills in various states for the 2025 legislative session.  We have begun tracking these bills and will continue to report information as things develop.

For more information click here.

The process for amending the constitution varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In 2024, everyone was invited to pray for the guidance of all those involved in the decision-making processes concerning abortion.

13 states began the process of attempting to insert the right to abortion in their state constitution.  In time, three of those states failed on procedural grounds to move forward.  10 of those states succeeded in completing the requirements to place the initiative on the ballot.  Of these ten, six states voted, by varying margins, in favor of inserting a right to abortion in the state constitution.  One state, Nevada, passed the first of two rounds of voting for their initiative (a second vote will take place in 2026), and three states, Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota thankfully failed to acquire the votes needed to make a virtually unrestricted right to abortion part of the constitution.  To see more details on the states that faced these amendments, click here.

Inserting a right to abortion in a state constitution is not the end of the action being taken by abortion activists.  The lawsuit that was recently filed in Missouri, a state that voted in favor of inserting a right to abortion in the state constitution, is taking aim at parental rights.  The vague language that was used to pass this amendment is now being used to target minors.  See the article in The Federalist about how far abortion proponents want to go.

The abortion issue, the United States Supreme Court asserts in its June 24, 2022 Dobbs opinion, is to be resolved not by the Court but by “the people and their elected representatives.”

In a recent article, Dr. Michael Taylor, the Executive Director Emeritus of NCHLA, examines how the development of the abortion issue provides perspective on the challenges before us. He steps back from the new legal situation created by Dobbs and reviews how the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ teaching on abortion and public policy has interacted with the U.S. legal context both before and after Roe.