AB 2747, a dangerous bill promoting assisted suicide, was placed on the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at 11 a.m. this Thursday, September 18, 2008. The Governor has twelve days starting Thursday to veto or sign the suicide measure, or else the measure will become law automatically without his signature. It’s been two days, and the Governor has taken no action so far. The bill becomes law on October 1st, which means that Gov. Schwarzenegger has until the evening of September 30th to make a move.
Although the Governor has not made any public statements either supporting or opposing AB 2747 and believes that physician-assisted suicide is an issue that should be decided by the people, the California Catholic Conference has reported that Gov. Schwarzenegger has already signed a good end-of-life bill this session. According to the Conference, AB 3000, a bill creating advanced medical directive forms which includes a “Physician Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment” form, was signed by the Governor in July. This may be an indication that the Governor may veto AB 2747, but only time will tell.
AB 2747 would require physicians to participate in patient suicides, and would put patients with treatable illnesses under pressure –financial and otherwise – to commit suicide. Organizations that have firmly opposed the suicide bill include California Family Council, California Nurses for Ethical Standards, Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco, California Disability Alliance, California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, CA League of United Latin American Citizens, La Raza Roundtable de California, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and numerous other statewide organizations.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }