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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah lawmaker is working on legislation this year that would allow terminally ill people to end their lives.
Salt Lake City Democratic Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck acknowledges it may be a longshot to get Utah's Republican-controlled Legislature to embrace the proposal in the remaining three weeks of their annual session. But she wants to kick off a discussion about individual rights for someone facing unbearable suffering.
"What I'm hoping will resonate with my colleagues, who feel very strongly about individual rights and self-determination in this state, is that with this most final of decisions, that one's government shouldn't be imposing restrictions that put someone into a possibility of intolerable suffering at their end of life," Chavez-Houck told The Associated Press.
She was contacted by several Utah residents after a terminally ill 29-year-old Oregon woman generated a national debate last fall about right-to-die laws.
Chavez-Houck plans to unveil a Utah measure next week that's modeled after a law approved by voters in Oregon more 20 years ago that allows terminally ill people to end their lives. It's one of five states that currently have physician-assisted suicide laws, though several other states are considering legislation.
The proposal pending in Utah would allow adults who have a terminal illness and are expected to live six months or less chose to end their lives. To be eligible, someone would need to be mentally competent, a Utah resident and have two doctors agree on their prognosis.
What I'm hoping will resonate with my colleagues, who feel very strongly about individual rights and self-determination in this state, is that with this most final of decisions, that one's government shouldn't be imposing restrictions that put someone into a possibility of intolerable suffering at their end of life.
–Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake
The bill would require that after a patient initially requests the life-ending medication, the patient would have to ask for it again at least 15 days later. The patient would have to be counseled on the other options and treatments that are available. If a doctor suspects the patient is suffering from depression or cannot fully appreciate what is being asking for, the patient would need to undergo a psychological evaluation.
If someone meets all of those requirements, a doctor would issue a prescription that the patient would take at his or her discretion.
The proposal arrives as Utah lawmakers this year are considering a bill to allow terminally-ill patients to obtain experimental drugs that have not been federally approved.
Chavez-Houck said that the right-to-die and the so-called "Right to Try" proposals are "two-sides of the same coin of patients' rights," she wants the issues to be considered separately and doesn't want to cloud debate.
It's unclear if and when Utah lawmakers will embrace assisted suicide legislation.
Huntsville Republican Rep. Gage Froerer, who is sponsoring the "Right to Try" experimental drug bill, told reporters in January that he'd need to see an assisted suicide bill before taking a stance, but the concept "probably makes sense, depending on what the requirements and the limitations are."
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