Dive Brief:
- Legislation allowing physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients who request it was advanced Monday by a New Jersey state Senate committee.
- The Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee approved the "Death with Dignity Act" after a hearing that started in the morning and except for a pause so senators could vote, lasted well into the evening. The Assembly passed similar legislation in November amid a heated debate over the issue.
- Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Vitale said he wouldn't vote for the bill if it were on the floor today but allowed it to advance. He said the bill deserves to be fully vetted by the Senate, but that he doesn't believe it has the votes needed to pass.
Dive Insight:
The legislation offers terminally ill patients the opportunity to end their lives on their own terms, an issue that gained new momentum after the late terminal brain cancer patient Brittany Maynard went public with her decision to choose the day she wanted to die (by taking specially prescribed medications that would end her life). Just as the support and opposition for this bill, and this issue, is equally strong, the potential legislation has serious implications, so it's right that legislators are taking the time to hear all sides.
Oregon, Montana, Washington and Vermont currently have assisted dying laws in place for mentally-competent, terminally ill adults.