‘Aid-in-dying’ bill clears first legislative hurdle
An attempt by Republicans to add an amendment that could have created a major legislative obstacle to this year’s version of the aid-in-dying bill failed Friday in the Democraticcontrolled Public Health Committee.
After the amendment was defeated, the bill, similar to other states in which terminally ill patients may use a lethal combination of drugs to take their own lives, passed with support from three Republicans including Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield. Currently, there are aid-indying laws in Washington, D.C., California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
It next goes to the Senate, where it might have its the best chance for passage since it was first introduced in the General Assembly, back in 1994. The Republican amendment, defeated 17-12, mostly along party lines, would have required the legislation to next go to the Judiciary Committee, where in recent years it has failed.
“This has been a tough conversation. We are granting a choice for a small group of people,” said state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chairman of the committee, noting that it also failed last year, so committee members were familiar with the issues. “I can’t tell you what incomparable pain they have. We’re telling them they are allowed to do something that they can choose to do.
It’s a very emotional subject, in and of itself.”
“This bill is somewhat more restrictive than the bills in other states,” said Sen. Saud Awar, D-South Windsor, a physician who is co-chairman of the committee. “It’s far-more restrictive. I think the safety net we have created is much more than many of the other states.”
Now, if Senate leaders decide that it can immediately go to a floor debate rather than other committees, the aid-in-dying bill may soon be acted on, and then go to the House of Representatives well before the General Assembly’s midnight, May 4 deadline.
“Real people from Connecticut need your help,” said first-term state Rep. Aimee Berger-Girvalo, D-Ridgefield, a committee
member recalling testimony of terminally ill patients going back to at least 2013, many of whom have died while the General Assembly has annually shelved the bill.
Under the legislation, physicians would have to rule that a patient has terminal illness with less than six months to live. Four witnesses would be required to watch the patient sign a declaration of intent. Patients who take their own lives would not be ruled suicides, but as having availed themselves of the aid-in-dying law.
State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, a top Republican on the committee, submitted the amendment, which would have created criminal penalties in cases of misuse of the drugs used in what opponents of the bill call assisted-suicide. “If we truly are trying to be a little more diligent than other states in providing
stopgap measures and safety measures, we should absolutely have this in there,” Somers said.
Steinberg and other Democrats replied that the amendment isn’t needed because there are already statutes in place on the misuse of such substances. “Given the history now, which year after year expands in other states, we believe that the other states’ experience gives us reason to be confident the legal restrictions we put in this bill are adequate and appropriate,” Steinberg said.
Members of the committee admitted they are conflicted over what has become a perennial committee debate, especially after the recent public hearing in which patients and families from throughout the state, in emotional pleas, asked again for the option to determine when to end their own lives in battles
with terminal illness.
“This is something that’s such a personal issue,” said Sen. Julie Kushner, DDanbury, adding that her father’s death after suffering from terminal lung cancer was aided by about five days of morphine supervised by medical professionals. “What I think the people in my district want are these choices.”
Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington, shared similar stories of her family members who suffered from terminal illness. While she has opposed the legislation in the past, she is keeping an open mind this year. “We’re talking about people who can make decisions for themselves,” she said. “We treat our animals often better than we treat humans.” She voted in favor of the bill.