Health & Saf. Code, § 443.17 · Part 1.85. End of Life Option Act
Health & Saf. Code, § 443.17
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Knowingly altering or forging a request for an aid-in-dying drug to end an individual’s life without their authorization or concealing or destroying a withdrawal or rescission of a request for an aid-in-dying drug is punishable as a felony if the act is done with the intent or effect of causing the individual’s death.
(b) Knowingly coercing or exerting undue influence on an individual to request or ingest an aid-in-dying drug for the purpose of ending their life or to destroy a withdrawal or rescission of a request, or to administer an aid-in-dying drug to an individual without their knowledge or consent, is punishable as a felony.
(c) For purposes of this section, “knowingly” has the meaning provided in Section 7 of the Penal Code.
(d) The attending physician, consulting physician, or mental health specialist shall not be related to the individual by blood, marriage, registered domestic partnership, or adoption, or be entitled to a portion of the individual’s estate upon death.
(e) This section does not limit civil liability or damages arising from negligent conduct or intentional misconduct in carrying out actions otherwise authorized by this part by any person, health care provider, or health care entity.
(f) The penalties in this section do not preclude criminal penalties applicable under any law for conduct inconsistent with the provisions of this part.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 542, Sec. 8. (SB 380) Effective January 1, 2022.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=443.17.
- Text hash
- sha256 2dc7df382cfe16fd008bd25b0ab4d25278f772cae25c14aeb475f6b66915fe93
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- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
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Health and Safety Code
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