California bill that would allow assisted suicide passes Senate panel

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Physician-assisted suicide would be legal for terminally ill patients in California under a bill passed on Wednesday by a committee of the state Senate. The bill, passed by the Senate Health Committee, would allow patients who are mentally competent and have fewer than six months to live to obtain prescriptions for medication to end their lives. “This end-of-life decision should remain with the individual, as a matter of personal freedom and liberty without criminalize those who help to honor our wishes,” said state Senator Lois Wolk, a Democrat representing suburbs east of San Francisco and the state's wine country and one of the bill's authors. The California bill is moving through the legislature at a time when the issue of assisted suicide has sparked public attention following the death of brain cancer patient Brittany Maynard last fall. via Health News Headlines - Yahoo News Read More Here..