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374 Californians Took Their Lives in 2017 Under Physician-Assisted Suicide Law

Youssef Cohen, a cancer patient who advocated for right-to-die legislation, rides to a doctor's appointment with his wife in New York on March 16, 2016. (John Moore/Getty Images)

A total of 374 people in California took their lives in 2017 using lethal medications prescribed by their doctors under the state’s physician-assisted suicide law, according to state data released Friday.

The End of Life Option Act, which went into effect in June 2016, made the state the fifth to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

The new data comes amid an ongoing legal battle over the future of the law. A judge temporarily suspended the law after ruling it was unconstitutional last month, only to have another court reverse that decision last week.

In the first 18 months the law was in effect, 485 Californians used it to take their life, according to state data.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

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