Death with Dignity Hawai'i (DWDHI) is a coalition of local organizations including Advocates for Consumer Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, Free Thinkers Maui, the Hemlock Society Hawai'i, Humanists Hawai'i, the Kokua Council and Compassion In Dying of Hawai’i.

2005
On February 6, 2005, after more than nine hours of testimony before the House Health Committee, lawmakers voted against moving the Death with Dignity Bill (HB 1454) forward, thus eliminating Death with Dignity from the 2005 legislative session.

2004
In January 2004, QMark Research & Polling issued 'Hawai'i Issue Study: Issues Affecting Those Dying of a Terminal Disease,' showing that 75%  of registered Hawai'ian  voters believed the terminally ill should be able to request and receive physician help in hastening their deaths. Two-thirds of those surveyed supported the proposed Death with Dignity Bill (HB 862) as a matter of self-determination, and 64% expressed the desire that their legislators support the bill. Read the poll.

House Bill 862 represented Hawai'i's second attempt at passing a death with dignity law. However, as the election season approached, the House of Representatives rejected the measure that would have allowed terminally ill adults to get lethal doses of medication that would end their lives. According to House Judiciary Vice Chairman Blake Oshiro, D-33rd (Halawa, 'Aiea, Pearlridge), among the main proponents, House members were divided, and the Democrats believed it would be better to raise the issue again later -- but not this session. "People were a little uncomfortable about taking this up in an election year," Oshiro said. The measure also faced an uphill fight in the Senate. Gov. Linda Lingle has stated her opposition.

2002
In 2002, Death with Dignity Hawai’i worked closely with national leaders in end-of-life care reform to promote a narrow bill modeled on the Oregon law. Led by Representatives Eric Hamakawa and Blake Oshiro, the House Judiciary Committee passed the bill  and moved it out of the Hawai'i House of Representatives on to the Senate. On May 2, the final day of the legislative session, the bill suffered a narrow defeat. After more than two hours of emotionally charged debate, the Senate voted 14-11 to reject the proposed death with dignity legislation. A disappointed Governor Cayetano expressed hope that awareness of the issue had been raised.

1996
In 1996, former Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano convened the "Blue Ribbon Panel on Living & Dying with Dignity." The panel made several recommendations, each of which was implemented except one -- a death with dignity law. As the Panel’s report stated: "Our respect for individual's rights of self-determination brings us to the view that requests for assistance in dying should be taken seriously."

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