Assemblypersons Patti Berg and Lloyd Levine’s attempt to institute backdoor assisted suicide via “palliative sedation” just hit a big bump in the road: To get it out of a California Senate committee—they had to consent to their pet bill being gutted. From the California Catholic Conference press release:
The amendments in the revised bill included:This is a great win and congratulations are owed to the disability rights movement, the Northern California Oncologists Association, the California Catholic Conference, and all associated with Californians Against Assisted Suicide, among others.
- Expansion and clarification of the definition of “healthcare provider”
- Removal of the definition of palliative sedation
- Removal of the definition of Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED)
- Removal of the “one year or less to live” trigger for discussion of end-of-life “care” options
- Removal of palliative sedation and VSED [self starvation/dehydration]from the menu of end-of-life “care” options
- Recasting of the section requiring the transfer of a patient requesting a treatment his/her healthcare provider declined to offer—to allowing a transfer only when the healthcare provider did not comply with the patient’s request for information on end-of-life care options.
However: If it passes the Senate the bill goes into a committee to have the original version that passed the Assembly and this innocuous version reconciled. Look for the bad guys to attempt a smoke-filled—room by reinstating most of the original bill behind closed doors.
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