Aid in dying legislation clears key committee

Bill would allow doctors to prescribe life-ending meds to terminally ill

After years of stalling in the General Assembly, aid in dying legislation cleared a key legislative committee on Friday. But even supporters of the concept acknowledged the bill needs work.

After years of stalling in the General Assembly, aid in dying legislation cleared a key legislative committee on Friday.

But even supporters of the concept acknowledged the bill needs work.

Rep. Sean Scanlon, a Democrat from Guilford, said he has long wrestled with the idea of making it legal for a physician to help terminally ill patients to end their lives.

“I’m not sold on this bill, but I am sold on the notion that that choice is important to a lot of people,” Scanlon said. “I want to make sure we try to get this right if this bill is to move forward.”

House Bill 6425 would allow mentally competent patients with less than six months to live to obtain a prescription from a doctor for a lethal dose of medication. Nine states and the District of Columbia have passed similar laws.

The concept has been raised in the Connecticut legislature at least 14 times since 1994. But aid in dying legislation has never come up for a vote at the committee level or in either chamber of the General Assembly.

The 24-9 vote in the legislature’s public health committee Friday was largely along party lines, with three Republicans — Sen. Tony Hwang of Fairfield, Rep. Kathy Kennedy of Milford and Rep. Robin Green of Marlborough — joining the Democrats on the committee in backing the legislation.

Friday’s action moves the bill forward in the legislative process, though it is unclear whether the full House of Representatives will vote on the matter before the General Assembly adjourns in early June.

“The time to move this bill is now,” said Tim Appleton, Connecticut field director for Compassion and Choices, a national advocacy group for aid in dying laws. “This has been debated for nearly a quarter of a century and in that time, the concerns of opponents haven’t really changed.”

The measure was the subject of a dramatic public hearing last week that ran for more than 15 hours; lawmakers on both sides of the issue said they were moved by the testimony.

“This is an emotional issue,” said committee co-chair Jonathan Steinberg, a Democrat from Westport and a strong supporter of the legislation. “It is challenging for us. We’re only human.”

Hwang, one of the three Republican yes votes, said he views the issue as a matter of personal choice. “I approach

this the same way ... [as] a woman’s right to choose, as a parent’s right to protect in what they deem necessary for their children,” Hwang said, “to respect that personal decision of their body.”

Other lawmakers said they were swayed by comments at the hearing that such a law could lead to coercion of vulnerable people and lead to a devaluation of human life.

Rep. William Petit, a Republican from Plainville who is trained as a physician, said the proposal is “difficult and complicated.” He cited a statement by the American Medical Association that such a law is “fundamentally incompatible with a physician’s role as a healer.”

Supporters say the bill has safeguards embedded within it to protect the vulnerable. The measure would require two physicians to sign off on a patient’s request and would only be available as an option to people 18 or older.

Sen. Heather Somers, a Republican from Groton, said the bill lacks details, from the type of medication a physician would prescribe to whom would certify a patient as mentally competent.

“I am going to be a ‘no’ on this not because I am not sympathetic to [those] at end of life, because I am,” Somers said, “but because I think this bill needs work. What we have down here is too loose.”

The measure has plenty of safeguards, Steinberg said, but he pledged to work with critics to address some of the issues raised by Somers and others. “I for one am eager to meet with you and others to see if there are changes we can make to mitigate some of your reservations,” he told Somers.

Rep. Michelle Cook, a Democrat from Torrington, has long been opposed to medical aid in dying, but her family’s harrowing experience with death has complicated her view. In recent months, she has mourned the loss of her father, her grandfather, her step-mother and both of her parents-in-law.

“I’ll vote for this bill to get out of the committee because I do think there are things that need to be worked on and I do think that we have an obligation to continue the conversation’“Cook said. “But this weighs heavy on me.”