Nevada lawmakers pass assisted suicide bill, await governor’s response

Lawmakers in the Nevada Assembly passed a bill on May 24 allowing assisted suicide. The bill, which passed the Senate in April, now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Joe Lombardo, who needs to sign it in order for it to go into effect. According to Newsweek, Lombardo has not given any indication as to whether he will sign the bill or veto it.

SB 239 allows those who are considered terminally ill to procure and administer drugs that would end their life. Per the bill’s provision, a “mentally capable adult patient should have the right to self-determination concerning his or her health care decisions.” According to the bill, assisted suicide should be allowed because “patients with a terminal illness may undergo unremitting pain, agonizing discomfort, and a sudden, continuing and irreversible reduction in their quality of life.”

The bill further requires that those over age 18 who wish to die must be terminally ill and of sound mind. They must make two verbal requests and one written request to a medical practitioner before receiving their lethal prescription. The bill also stipulates that those dispensing the drugs will be exempt from any professional discipline, or civil or criminal penalty.

As Live Action News has previously reported, legalizing assisted suicide does not guarantee the peaceful death that most are seeking. Disturbing revelations have found that the drugs used may often cause the suffering person to silently drown while their body is in a paralytic state. “This isn’t a gentle peaceful death. It just looks peaceful,” explained one palliative care doctor, “because they can’t move their muscles and they’re paralyzed.”

Meanwhile, those opposed to assisted suicide have launched a petition to persuade Lombardo to veto the bill.

“It’s a heartbreaking reality that those who deserve love and care would be enabled and encouraged by their doctors to give up on life,” the petition says. “Just because someone is mentally ill, needy, or hurting does not mean that their life is worthless and that suicide is a viable option.”

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