CARSON CITY (AP) — The debate over physician-assisted suicide is expected to return to the Nevada Legislature almost two years after the measure failed to become law.
Lawmakers are scheduled to hear a bill on Monday that would allow terminal patients to kill themselves with medication prescribed by a doctor — something supporters argue will let the patients die with dignity and no longer suffer in agonizing pain.
Bill sponsor Sen. Pat Spearman and 16 other Nevada lawmakers have signed on in support of the bill. The Death with Dignity National Center reports that Nevada would be the seventh state to pass the legislation. California, Oregon and Washington are among the states that have such statutes.
Under the legislation, the medication would only be provided to adults who are diagnosed to be within six-months of death.
Sylvia Wiegand tells 13 Action News she opes the bill will become a reality.
She’s considering assisted suicide if her Myasthenia Gravis advances to a more severe stage.
“We can make a choice when we want to go. And not live in a hospice, be turned over two times a day, have bed sores and vegetate every day. No. It's not working."
