Aug 28, 2008 4:23 pm US/Pacific
Calif. Bill Would Give Options To Terminally ill
SACRAMENTO (AP) ―
Doctors would have to offer terminally ill patients information about their end-of-life options, including the right to cut off treatment, under a bill that has passed the state Legislature.
The measure by Democratic Assembly members Patti Berg of Eureka and Lloyd Levine of Sherman Oaks cleared its final legislative hurdle Thursday when the Assembly voted 42-33 to approve Senate amendments.
Under the bill, terminally ill patients would have the right to receive information about hospice care, the right to receive or end treatment and the right to various means of managing pain and symptoms.
Terminally ill patients already have the right to refuse treatment. Supporters of the Berg and Levine bill said it would make those patients aware of their options.
Opponents said the measure could harm people who are mistakenly diagnosed as terminal or lead to legislation allowing doctors to provide terminal patients with drugs to hasten their deaths.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the bill.
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