How Oregon Pioneered Death With Dignity

Registration Details

General admission is free for everyone, but registration is requested to help us manage capacity. Lunch registration closed Tuesday, July 7 at 12:00 pm.

[Register Here!]

About the Program

Join City Club for a conversation with Sue Porter, one of the nation’s leading end-of-life advocates, about the development and evolution of Oregon’s landmark Death With Dignity Act. Oregon was the world’s first government to create a medically supportive path for terminally ill patients to choose how and when they die. Since taking effect in 1997, the Act has changed how many people think about end-of-life choices, while also attracting considerable controversy. The conversation will explore how Oregon pioneered this approach and what has been learned over nearly 30 years of experience. The discussion will be moderated by Samuel Metz, MD, City Club Program Committee member.

About the Speaker

Sue Porter, MBA, MSB, is the founder of End of Life Choices Oregon, the nonprofit organization that has guided hundreds of terminally ill Oregonians through the state’s Death with Dignity Act for the past ten years. Previously, Sue served on the national board for Compassion and Choices, and on their leadership council.  Sue also has a diploma from the Yale Interdisciplinary Center and was a visiting scholar at the Hastings Center for Bioethics.

Thank You!

Thank you to City Club’s Summer 2026 Season Sponsors: AARP Oregon, the Don Sterling Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, Fight Against Sex Trafficking, Hospital Association of Oregon, and NW Natural.

City Club of Portland relies on organizational sponsors to help cover the costs of bringing free programming to our members and the public. As a nonpartisan, impartial forum for civic dialogue, City Club accepts sponsorships from a wide spectrum of organizations. Our policies prevent sponsors from influencing the content of our programming and research. City Club is deeply grateful to all of our supporters.