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 By an 8-to-5 bipartisan vote, the so-called "Death with Dignity"
bill was rejected by the Public Health and Human Services Committee
in the state's House of Representatives. The measure was sponsored
by two Democratic lawmakers.
"Supporting a concept and a bill are two different things," said
committee chairwoman Dianne Primavera, a Democrat, during the
hearing.
The right-to-die movement gained momentum last year after Brittany
Maynard - a 29-year-old California woman with terminal brain cancer
- went public with her move to Oregon, where assisted suicide is
legal, to end her life.
The Colorado proposal would have required two physicians to verify
that the patient is terminal, had made both verbal and written
statements of their intentions, and was able to self-administer the
lethal medications.
 Hundreds packed the committee room in Denver, as lawmakers heard
testimony from both advocates and opponents of the measure.
Anita Cameron, who said she suffers from multiple disabilities, told
the panel that the proposal lacked adequate safeguards.
"Doctors often make mistakes on whether someone is terminal or not,"
she said, adding that her mother was told six years ago that she had
just six months to live.
Lawmakers also heard testimony from a retired Colorado physician,
Charles Hatchette, who made a video in support of the measure
shortly before he died from complications of Lou Gehrig's disease
last month.
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"There is more to life than just extending its length," Hatchette
said on the video played for lawmakers.
Oregon, Montana, Washington, New Mexico and Vermont allow some form
of assisted suicide, and similar legislation is pending in several
other states.
A poll conducted last month by Colorado pollster Talmey-Drake
Research showed 68 percent of state residents surveyed favored the
bill.
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned that country's ban
on assisted suicide.
(Editing by Curtis Skinner and Michael Urquhart)
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