SANTA FE – State lawmakers are considering whether to legalize medically assisted suicide for terminally ill patients.
It’s the first test of right-to-die legislation since the election last year of a Democratic governor and a larger Democratic House majority. Current law that withstood a Supreme Court challenge in 2017 makes it a felony for a physician to assist a patient in ending his or her life.
Legislative committees on Monday began vetting a variety of major policy reforms.
A proposal from Democratic Rep. Deborah Armstrong of Albuquerque and Sen. Liz Stefanics of Santa Fe sets out assisted-suicide protocols that include a two-day waiting period to obtain life-ending drugs.
The initiative’s opponents include the Roman Catholic Church. It’s raising ethical objections to provisions for obtaining life-ending prescriptions by remote consultation with medical providers.
