California Legislators have decided to drop their 'death with dignity' bill for now which would have let terminally ill commit suicide through the use of lethal drugs, because of a lack of majority votes in the Assembly. Proponents say it failed because of 'steady religious and cultural currents.'
According to the L.A. Times, Assembly member Patty Berg of Eureka said, "A lot of people understand the issue; a lot of people don't, for the ones that don't, you need time to explain it, to walk them through it." Berg and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine of Van Nuys were the authors who couldn't pull the bill off because of the strong opposition they faced from the California Catholic Conference and disabled activists.
The Berg and Levine bill, AB 654, was designed after Oregon's law which was passed in 1994 by the voters. That law copies similar laws that have been adopted in some other countries which allow a person to get a lethal prescription after asking for it at least twice verbally and once in writing, and a patient must ingest the drugs without help.
Related:
Legislators Drop Suicide Bill for Now
© Sharon Hughes 2005
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