Supporters of proposed legislation allowing doctors to prescribe life ending medication to terminally ill patients, hold up signs of support during a hearing on the bill in the Senate Health Committee at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday March 25, 2015. Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old San Francisco Bay Area woman who had terminal cancer, moved to Oregon where she could legally end her life. The bill was approve by the committee by a 5-2 vote.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (Photo: )
A California bill that would allow terminally ill patients to seek a physician-assisted death failed to advance in the state legislature on Tuesday.
“We have chosen not to present SB 128, the End of Life Option Act, today, in the Assembly Health Committee," bill author Sen. Bill Monning (D) said in a press release announcing its removal from the committee's calendar this year.
"However, we are continuing to work with the Committee members to ensure that when the bill is presented, they are comfortable with the measure," he added. "Seven out of every ten California voters want to see SB 128 become law and we remain committed to passing the End of Life Option Act for all Californians who want this option.”
The bill would have authorized physicians to offer aid-in-dying to terminally ill patients in California as long as the patients had received a prognosis of six months to live from two doctors, submitted a written request and two oral requests to a physician at least 15 days apart and possessed the mental competency to make decisions about their own health care.
Just as when a similar right-to-die bill failed in California in 2007, this year's legislation was hotly opposed by many religious and medical groups. In May, however, the California Physicians Association, which represents 40,000 physicians in the state, reversed its objection to the practice and stated that such decisions should be made between patients and their doctors.
Had it passed, California would have joined Oregon, Washington and Vermont as one of the few states with such right-to-die laws.
The legislation was inspired by the story of Brittany Maynard, a terminally ill 29-year-old who moved from California to Oregon to end her life two months before the legislation was introduced in January. In a series of videos released before and after her death, Maynard urged lawmakers to make "death with dignity" a more widely available option.
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Brittany Maynard made the controversial decision to end her own life after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and given six months to live.
Maynard and her family moved to Oregon where she could legally end her life. She became the face of the right-to-die movement in the United States.
Maynard was open about her harrowing journey, writing articles about the decision to die on her own terms and posting emotional videos to raise awareness about death with dignity. She even told the world the exact date she had chosen to pass.
"I am not suicidal," she wrote in a blog post for CNN.com. "I do not want to die. But I am dying. And I want to die on my own terms." Here, Maynard appears with her husband, Dan Diaz.
She died on Nov. 1 after taking medication prescribed by her doctor.
"Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love," she wrote in a Facebook post, according to People. "Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness... the world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers... goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!"
"The mood in the house was very peaceful, very loving," Diaz told Oprah of his wife's final hours.
Maynard and Diaz met in 2007. and were married in California's wine country in September 2012.
Brittany and Dan with their dogs, Bella and Charlie, who were also by her side when she died.
"Brittany wanted to see legislation in all states, really, but in California in particular so that people wouldn't have to go through what we did," Diaz told Oprah.
"The one thing that does keep me going is working toward fulfilling the promise I made to her," Diaz told Oprah.
Diaz speaks in support of proposed legislation allowing doctors to prescribe life ending medication to terminally ill patients during a news conference at the Capitol, Jan. 21, 2015, in Sacramento, Calif.
Debbie Ziegler, Maynard's mother, speaks at the Sacramento news conference.
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