California lawmakers approve right-to-die legislation
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, wipes her eyes as she talks with Assemblyman Rudy Salas, Jr., D-Bakersfield, after her emotion filled speech against a right-to-die measure before the Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, in Sacramento, Calif. On a 42-33 vote lawmakers approved the bill, by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, that would allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives. It now goes to the Senate. Salas voted for the bill. AP
SACRAMENTO, California — The state Assembly approved legislation Wednesday that would allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives after an emotional and deeply personal debate, sending the proposal to the Senate that is expected to endorse it.
It was the second effort by California lawmakers this year to allow doctors to prescribe life-ending medication following the highly publicized case of 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, a California woman with brain cancer who moved to Oregon to legally take her life.
Lawmakers from both parties invoked their religious faith in arguing for and against the legislation before voting 42-33 in its favor.
“I, as a Christian, do not pretend to know what God has in mind for all of us, why there is pain or suffering in this world. But I do know he is a merciful God. And we have the ability to allow others to have a choice,” said Republican Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, who supported the measure. “I believe it is cruel — nothing short of cruel — to deny them that choice in their final hours and final days.”
Assembly members were seen as the stumbling block to advancing the bill; the previous version had passed the Senate. Baker, who would have represented Maynard had she stayed in California, was among several Republican lawmakers who supported the bill after previously expressing reservations.
In response to those concerns, several changes were made to boost patient protections, including requirements that the patient be physically capable of taking the medication themselves, that two doctors approve it, that the patient submit several written requests and that there be two witnesses.
The earlier measure stalled amid religious opposition and hesitant Democrats. The renewed push comes after at least two dozen states have introduced aid-in-dying legislation this year, though none of the bills has passed.
The right-to-die movement has been galvanized by the high-profile case of Maynard, who argued in widely viewed online videos that she should have been able to access life-ending drugs in her home state. Doctors are permitted to prescribe life-ending drugs in Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana.
It’s not clear where Gov. Jerry Brown, a lifelong Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian, stands on the issue.
Religious groups and advocates for people with disabilities have opposed aid-in-dying legislation, saying it goes against the will of God and puts terminally ill patients at risk for coerced death.
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