California Legislature Approves Bill Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide
When patients are sent home to hospice with knowledge that they will shortly die, why can’t they choose their own time of exit and the grace of dying with dignity?
The California legislature on Friday approved a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients despite opposition from religious and disability rights groups, sending it to Democratic Governor Jerry Brown for his approval or veto.
The bill would allow mentally competent patients to request a prescription that would end their lives if two doctors agree the patients have only six months to live.
The measure, based on a similar law in Oregon, passed the state Senate on Friday on a vote of 23-14, after passing the Assembly on Thursday.
“We are here today on the precipice of granting a wish that I was not able to give my mother,” said Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, who said her mother died in agony from a form of leukemia.
More: California Legislature Approves Bill Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide