FOLLOWING a debate filled with personal stories of loss, the California Senate on Thursday, June 4, approved a highly controversial measure that would allow terminally-ill patients to end their lives with drugs prescribed by physicians.
The proposal, Senate Bill 128, is modeled after a voter-approved law in Oregon, the Death with Dignity Act.
The right to die is an issue that has been debated in California for decades, but it gained momentum after 29-year-old Californian Brittany Maynard, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, moved to Oregon last year so she could end her life rather than suffer through the pain associated with her condition.
Should the measure become law, California would join Oregon, Washington and Vermont in legally authorizing some form of physician-assisted suicide. In New Mexico and Montana, court rulings also allow the practice in the two states.
“Californians with terminal diseases should have the autonomy to approach death on their own terms, and I look forward to continuing this policy discussion in the Assembly,” Bill Monning, who co-authored the bill with Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis), said in a statement.
The California bill, titled the End of Life Option Act, would permit adults with illnesses that doctors determine will kill them in six months to obtain and self-administer medication to end their lives.
It would also require two other physicians to verify the patient has six months or less left to live and limits the option to mentally competent patients.
Although modeled after Oregon’s law, California’s version has two differences: first, it requires a translator for non-English speakers; second, it gives pharmacists – not only physicians – legal immunity for participating in deaths.
Senate debate on the issue elicited emotional testimony from both sides of the aisle, who ultimately advanced SB128 in a mostly party line vote of 23-14.
“Life should be protected from beginning to end,” said Sen. Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga). “Patients at end of life need care, not tools to take their life. We are sending signal that suicide is OK. We are becoming a culture that devalues life.”
Sen. Sharon Runner (R-Lancaster), who is a lung transplant recipient, said she considered giving up during her two months in an intensive care unit due to lung failure, but was grateful she persevered.
“You are not making good decisions when you are in pain and medicated,” she said. “I considered it and didn’t do it, but look at the life I have now.”
Davis told her colleagues that SB128 is about how people die in California, adding that it “will allow them to voluntarily end their lives in peace.”
Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) supported the plan, saying it “will not force me, if it is not my religious, cultural, ethical belief to do this.”
“It gives me the right, and gives me access to make a personal choice if I so choose,” she added.
Sen. Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) said he had previously been temporarily disabled and thought of suicide to putting pressure on his family, but added that his mother was diagnosed with cancer, was given weeks to live, but lived for years.
During Thursday’s vote, Maynard’s family was among those who watched proceedings in the Senate chamber.
“The Senate vote is an affirmation of what Brittany started,” said Dan Diaz, Maynard’s widower, according to San Jose Mercury News. “It reaffirms that she was simply doing what anyone in her predicament would do, which is want to be in control of their own dying process.”
Critics, however, including religious groups, say aid-in-dying legislation is against God’s will. Other opponents contend that certain patients may feel pressured to end their lives if doctors are authorized to prescribe them fatal medication.
“This bill is simply about protecting doctors and HMOs from liability and tells people with disabilities who face a terminal diagnosis that may well prove inaccurate that there is no dignity in our lives,” said Marilyn Golden, a senior policy analyst for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The measure now heads to the Assembly, where its fate is unclear. If the bill reaches the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has not publicly declared his position on the issue, it is also uncertain whether it will receive his signature.
California has previously attempted to pass similar legislation, including in 2007 when it failed due to objections from Catholic and medical groups. (With reports from Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Reuters and San Jose Mercury News)
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(LA Weekend June 6-9, 2015 Sec. A pg.6)
