California Right To Die Bill Passes Assembly Public Health Committee

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A California Assembly committee has passed a bill that would allow terminally ill patients the option to end their lives on Tuesday.

The Assembly Health Committee passed the measure with bipartisan support on a 10-2 vote.

Sens. Lois Wolk of Davis and Bill Monning of Carmel couldn't get support from fellow Democrats to advance a nearly identical bill out of the Assembly Health Committee earlier this year.

Senate Bill 128 would have allowed terminally ill patients to end their lives under a doctor's care. The bill's authors held the legislation back, saying they didn't have enough votes get it passed.

The bill was revived two weeks ago when it was introduced in a special session on health care convened by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The push for the legislation started nearly a year ago when Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old California woman who with terminal brain cancer, moved to Oregon, a state with laws allowing euthanasia.

Maynard said she didn't want to die, but since her terminal illness didn't give her a choice, she decided to leave the Earth the way she chooses, and she wants other to have the same choice. Maynard ended her life on Nov. 1, just after her husband's birthday.

Rules that would have allowed her to take her own life were defeated in 2005 and 2006 in California.

The legislation now moves to the Assembly Finance Committee.