Can An 'Aid in Dying' Law Pass in Connecticut?

The controversial issue of physician assisted suicide took center stage at the state capitol Monday.

People on both sides came out in force for a hearing hosted by the Public Health Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly.

The bill at the heart of the debate, HB-5326, is co-sponsored by two Democrats — state Rep. Elizabeth B. Ritter (D-38) and state Sen. Edward Meyer (D-12). It's called An Act Concerning Compassionate Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients, and its purpose is:

"To allow a physician to prescribe medication at the request of a mentally competent patient that has a terminal illness that such patient may self-administer to bring about his or her death." 

Read the full text of the bill.

"Our state has a long history of honoring personal choices, and this issue is an important one that centers on a person's individual right to decide how to die," Ritter said during a press conference earlier this year.

According to Compassion & Choices, an organization that is pushing for aid in dying legislation, the measure has nearly 70 percent support in Connecticut.

"Courts around the country, including the Supreme Court, have upheld the right our very able team is fighting for in Connecticut, and the medical practice of aid in dying is now legal in four states and counting," said Mickey MacIntyre, chief program officer of Compassion & Choices.

A Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll nearly came up with the exact opposite finding. It found that:

Fifty-five percent believe a doctor should not prescribe or provide life-ending drugs, but instead should manage the illness (27 percent) or be allowed to remove a respirator or other medical interventions so nature can take its course (28 percent).

The Oregon Trail

Connecticut's proposed law is largely modeled after one in Oregon, which was narrowly approved by voters in 1994 and put into effect in 1997 after going through several legal challenges.

In its first year, 15 Oregonians ended their lives under the auspices of the Death with Dignity Act. [Read a detailed report documenting Oregon's first year experience with the law.]

In 2013, 71 terminally ill patients used the Oregon law to end their life, the organization Death with Dignity reports, citing that state's Department of Human Services (DHS). 

Death With Dignity reports that at least six other states are also considering aid-in-dying bills. One was proposed in Connecticut last year, but it failed.

Do you support the aid-in-dying bill?