Serious questions loom as the legislation goes to the Senate SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 29
SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- After three defeats of assisted
suicide legislation in just as many years, the pro-assisted suicide group
Compassion and Choices (C&C) is now sponsoring AB 2747 (Berg/Levine). This new
bill represents a strategy change for assisted suicide proponents and paves
the way for their future efforts. As part of a coordinated national campaign
promoting the culture and legalization of assisted suicide, C&C is also
supporting similar legislation, H. 804 which was introduced earlier this year
in the Vermont legislature.
This bill would mandate that physicians, nurse practitioners and physician
assistants give a patient, while being diagnosed with a terminal illness or
with a prognosis of one year to live, information about pain management
options that are fitting only for persons who are imminently dying.
"AB 2747 has very little to do with improving care. Instead it is a
vehicle for Compassion and Choices' long-term agenda. Let's not forget that
this is the organization formerly known as the Hemlock Society," noted Marilyn
Golden, Policy Analyst, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.
"It sets the stage for Compassion and Choices' hoped-for future
legalization of assisted suicide in California. It would mandate that doctors
discuss with patients still a year from death, unusual end-of-life courses of
action including voluntarily starving and dehydrating themselves. The
opposition by the doctors who are most experienced with end-of-life care, such
as the Association of Northern California Oncologists, illustrates how
medically inappropriate these mandates are."
AB 2747 was narrowly approved by the State Assembly yesterday by two votes
and had bipartisan legislative opposition. The bill now moves to the State
Senate.
AB 2747 also has received strong opposition from organizations including:
Association of Northern California Oncologists, Disability Rights Education
and Defense Fund (DREDF), California League of United Latin American Citizens
(LULAC), La Raza Roundtable de California, LULAC National Health Commission,
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, and many others.
For more information about AB 2747 (Berg) go to http://www.CA-AAS.com.
SOURCE Californians Against Assisted Suicide
