{"id":143845,"date":"2026-01-22T00:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/143845\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T00:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:08:10","slug":"death-cafe-will-explore-end-of-life-issues-over-refreshments-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/143845\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Death Cafe\u2019 will explore end-of-life issues, over refreshments \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Orange County Deathworkers Alliance<\/a> wants to chat about your inevitable demise. Yes, members say, they\u2019re a blast at parties!<\/p>\n

The Alliance is not a grief support group exactly, but a collection of caregivers, doulas, doctors, organizers and the like who help folks get a grip on the details attendant to their own mortality, and\/or the mortality of loved ones.<\/p>\n

Its next \u201cDeath Cafe\u201d will be from 5 to 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, at the Neighborhood Congregational Church\u2019s Bridge Hall, 341 St. Ann\u2019s Drive, in Laguna Beach. The chats are free and happen monthly.<\/p>\n

Expect informal, open conversation about end-of-life planning, death and dying, shared over tea, cakes, pastries, cheese and crackers, plus \u201cpretty decent wine\u201d for those over 21, (which, thus far, applies to everyone the Alliance has hosted.)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Death Caf\u00e9s give guests a welcoming, nonjudgmental place to talk about death. It\u2019s healthy to discuss the emotional, spiritual, and practical topics around the end of life,\u201d said co-founder and end-of-life consultant Barbara McMurray in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"Japonica<\/a>Japonica or Flowering Quince tree. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Death Caf\u00e9<\/a>s are a global movement, allowing people to discuss the oft-taboo thoughts and questions they have about the end of life. Organizers say the format encourages folks to share personal stories, explore their feelings and\/or simply listen to other perspectives in a supportive atmosphere.<\/p>\n

OC Deathworkers Alliance members will be on hand to answer practical questions about advance directives, caregiving, medical aid in dying, hospice, body disposition, home funerals, etc. They emphasize the importance of emotional support and connection during this challenging time of life, organizers said.<\/p>\n

McMurray created the OC Deathworkers Alliance in May 2024 with end-of-life consultants (aka \u201cdeath doulas\u201d) Rickie Redman and Debbie Naud\u00e9. They provide non-medical support to individuals and families and seek to \u201cnormalize\u201d discussions about death as a natural part of the cycle of life.<\/p>\n

Options<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>California is one of more than a dozen states where medical-aid-in-dying (MAID) is legal. The End of Life Option Act<\/a> allows adults of sound mind, who have a terminal diagnosis and six months or less to live (and who can administer the drugs themselves), to request life-ending medication from a physician.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s law took effect in 2016 and had a built-in sunset date of 2031. In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill eliminating that sunset date,<\/a> giving peace-of-mind to many Californians who want to keep that option open in the coming decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornians with painful, debilitating terminal illnesses should have the option to avoid pointless suffering and die with dignity, if they wish, without fear of this option expiring,\u201d said the bill\u2019s author, Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, after the governor\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

Opponents argue that the aid-in-dying laws hasten vulnerable people to the grave, but data have not borne that out.<\/a> \u00a0Last year, only 1,032 Californians took the medication and died. But in Canada, which has a similar aid-in-dying law, more than 15,000 people<\/a> opted for that route. Canada and California have almost identical populations.<\/p>\n

The state has collected data about who opts to use the aid-in-dying law. In 2024, they were overwhelming White (86.7%) and had at least some college education (75.2%), according to state data. The majority had cancer (60%), followed by cardiovascular disease (13.8%), neurological disease (10.3%), respiratory diseases (6.2%) and other diseases (9.8%). Their median age was 78, but nearly 1 in 5 was 90 or older (18.2%). Almost all were already on hospice and\/or palliative care (94.8%), and most died in the comfort of their homes (85.3%).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orange County Deathworkers Alliance wants to chat about your inevitable demise. Yes, members say, they\u2019re a blast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,100],"class_list":["post-143845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}