Right-to-Die Legislation Passed by California Senate

The California Senate has passed the right-to-die legislation allowing terminally ill patients to end their own lives with a physician’s supervision.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The California Senate has passed a bill allowing terminally ill patients to end their own lives with a physician’s supervision, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The End of Life Options Act passed on a 23-14 vote on Friday and will now go to the desk of California Governor Jerry Brown, who has yet to decide whether to sign it into law or not, the newspaper said.

The legislation was passed by the California State Assembly on Wednesday. If signed by Brown, it will allow patients to seek assisted-suicide provided that they are given half a year or less to live by two different doctors and have the mental capacity to make their own decisions.

The patients would also be required to submit a written request and give two oral requests at least 15 days apart.

If the right-to-die legislation becomes law, California will become the fourth US state to allow physician assisted suicide, which is currently legal in Oregon, Washington state and Vermont.

About two dozen US states have introduced euthanasia legislation this year, but none of the bills have become law.

Montana passed a law in 2009 which provides legal protection to physicians who write a prescription for lethal medication upon patient request.