Free Republic

A long-dormant bill that would allow the terminally ill to obtain life-ending drugs from their physicians appeared to be headed for defeat Tuesday in a Senate committee after a wavering Democrat turned against it. Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Garden Grove, said he struggled with how to vote on the bill and ultimately decided it could lead to a broader use of assisted suicide than contemplated by the measure's authors because of future pressures to cut medical costs. "In this society, more often than not, public policy decisions are driven unfortunately by money concerns, not by policy concerns," said Dunn, the chairman...

That’s Right! Thanks to the legislature’s “gut and amend” process physician assisted suicide is alive and well. All of the language of AB 654 (Berg) , which failed to get enough votes to pass the Assembly, has been put into AB 651 (Levine) which did pass the Assembly and is currently in the Senate. AB 651 As introduced, dealt with disease management, but the amended version of AB 651 is the reincarnated version of the California Compassionate Choices Act. My guess is that the author, Assemblyman Levine believes that it will have an easier time passing in the Senate. The...

Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) -- A bill to make California the second state in the nation to legalize assisted suicide failed to get enough support in the state Assembly to be brought up for a vote. Bill sponsors plan to attach their measure to legislation in the Senate, but the bill will still have to come back to the Assembly for consideration. The California legislature has reached the halfway point of the session and all bills hoping to stay alive must clear one chamber. Assembly members Patty Berg and Lloyd Levine, both Democrats, say they are just a few votes shy...