SACRAMENTO, Calif.,
May 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Compassion & Choices today is pleased to report that the
Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that would
authorize the option of medical aid in dying for terminally ill
adults. The vote was 5-2.
The legislation, the End of Life Option Act (SB 128), would
allow mentally competent adults with six months or less to live the
option to request prescription medication they could take to
painlessly and peacefully end an unbearable dying process. A vote
on the Senate floor is now expected to happen next week.
"We thank the committee members for responding to the voices of
terminally ill Californians who face unbearable suffering, even
with the best hospice and palliative care," said Compassion &
Choices California Campaign Director Toni
Broaddus. "Dying people in agony desperately need more
end-of-life options. That's why we are confident the full Senate
will respond to this demand by passing this bill before its
June 5 deadline for legislative
action."
The End of Life Option Act is closely modeled after the
death-with-dignity law in Oregon. It has worked well for 17 years,
without a single proven case of abuse or coercion. Currently, four
other states authorize medical aid in dying: Washington, Montana, Vermont and New
Mexico. These states' aid-in-dying policies have proven to
be good, safe medical practice.
California voters support the medical option of aid in dying by
more than a 2-1 margin (64 % vs. 24 %), according to a 2014 poll.
Yet, nearly two decades after Oregon voters rejected a ballot
initiative to stop implementation of our nation's first
death-with-dignity law in 1997, California still has not authorized this
option.
Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old Californian who had terminal
brain cancer, brought international attention to this issue when
she had to move to Oregon to
utilize its death-with-dignity law last year. In the final weeks of
her life, Maynard partnered with Compassion & Choices to launch
a campaign to make aid in dying an open and accessible medical
option in California and 44 other
states nationwide. Since then, legislators in the District of Columbia and at least 23 states
have introduced bills authorizing this end-of-life option.
Compassion & Choices is the nation's oldest and largest
nonprofit organization working to improve care and expand choice at
the end of life. More information is available at:
www.compassionandchoices.org
California Media Contact:
Patricia A. González-Portillo, (323) 819-0310,
pportillo@compassionandchoices.org
National Media Contact:
Sean Crowley, (202) 496-8520,
scrowley@compassionandchoices.org
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SOURCE Compassion & Choices