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 California lawmakers unveiled the bill in January in an effort
tearfully welcomed by a woman whose 29-year-old daughter, Brittany
Maynard, moved from California to Oregon last year to end her life
after she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Maynard became a high-profile advocate for assisted suicide before
her death, and was featured on People magazine's cover.
The bill, which was approved 23-13 in the Senate, now moves on to
the state Assembly, said Kathy Smith, a spokeswoman for Democratic
Senator Bill Monning, one of the bill's sponsors.
If it becomes law in California, the most populous U.S. state would
join Oregon, Washington state, Montana and Vermont in allowing some
form of physician-assisted suicide.
The California legislation, which is modeled after an Oregon law,
would allow adults suffering from incurable and irreversible
illnesses that doctors say will kill them within six months to
obtain medication that they could self-administer to end their
lives.
Two separate physicians would be required to confirm a patient has
six months or less to live and verify that the patient has the
mental competency to make healthcare decisions.
Backers of the assisted suicide proposal had earlier made some
changes to the bill after it initially met strong opposition from
hospitals, doctors, anti-abortion organizations and disability
rights groups.
Participation by doctors and pharmacists would be voluntary, and the
bill would make it a felony to pressure people into ending their
lives or forging a request.
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The bill got a boost last month after the California Medical
Association dropped its three-decade opposition to
physician-assisted suicide, changing its position to neutral, in the
first such move by a state medical association.
"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," Senator Monning said in a
statement.
Critics said they feared some patients might be steered toward
assisted suicide if insurers deny or even delay coverage for costly
life-sustaining medical treatments.
"Unfortunately this vote sends a message to people like me that
suicide is a preferred option," Stephanie Packer, 32, who was
diagnosed with a terminal illness, said in a statement sent out by
Californians Against Assisted Suicide.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Cynthia
Johnston and Sandra Maler)
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