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A day after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill allowing assisted suicides for the terminally ill in California, opponents filed papers to seek a referendum to overturn the measure on the November 2016 ballot. A group called Seniors Against Suicide filed papers with the state attorney general’s office to get an official title and summary for the referendum, the first step toward collecting signatures. The group would have 90 days, or until Jan. 3, to collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters, a difficult task as those behind a failed referendum on the state’s new vaccine law recently found out. (McGreevy, 10/6)

One day after a deeply reflective Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation allowing doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients, opponents of the controversial measure have launched a campaign to overturn the law. (Koseff, 10/6)

It will soon be legal for the terminally ill to end their own lives in the nation's most populous state, and right-to-die advocates expect other states to follow California's example. ... California marks a turning point, and its legislation includes more safeguards than the other four states where the practice is legal, the law's supporters say. They are now focusing on New Jersey, where the state Senate is slated to debate a similar bill this fall, and Massachusetts, where a legislative hearing on the issue is set for this month. (Watson, 10/6)

California is the fifth state to allow doctors to assist such deaths. Here is a look at the states where the practice is legal. (Watson, 10/6)

National right-to-die advocates are hoping their recent success in California will boost their efforts to allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives in Maryland and the District. ... Maryland on Tuesday held a workshop on an assisted-suicide bill introduced by Del. Shane E. Pendergrass (D-Howard) where lawmakers heard from officials in Vermont and Oregon about the implementation of similar laws. Pendergrass started the hearing by reading Brown’s letter in signing California’s law, highlighting that the governor said he would not take options from others facing excruciating death despite his Catholic background. (Nirappil, 10/6)

Yesterday California's Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the End of Life Option Act. The law allows terminally ill people to be prescribed the drugs that will end their lives. The main opponents of the bill included some doctors, disability rights groups and religious organizations. One group called it, quote, "a dark day for California." On the other side of the debate, there is Christy O'Donnell. She's 47 years old and a former LAPD detective. After she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last year, she became an advocate for this law. (McEvers, 10/6)

This week, Gov. Jerry Brown settled one of the most contentious ethical, medical and legal issues of recent decades, deciding that Californians with terminal illness may seek a doctor's help to die on their own terms. The controversial new law raises both complex and practical questions. (Krieger, 10/6)

When faced with a life-threatening diagnosis, it is difficult to talk to a doctor about hastening death. So some patients wait until it is too late to discuss the topic with their doctor, said George Eighmey, the Oregon state legislator who in 1997 was instrumental in getting that state's Death With Dignity law passed and then went on to lead the state's chapter of the organization Compassion & Choices. (Krieger, 10/6)