Assembly hears passionate testimony on medically assisted suicide

Sen. Edgar Flores, D-Las Vegas, asks questions throughout a meeting in February 2023 in Carson City. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Assemblywoman Cecelia Gonzalez, D-Las Vegas, shakes the hand of Chief Justice Lidia S. Stiglich in February 2023 in Carson City. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Assemblyman Gregory Hafen II, R-Pahrump, seen in February 2023 in Carson City. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal).
An Assembly committee heard hours of impassioned testament Wednesday on a right-to-die costs that supporters say would give the terminally ill an option to end their suffering but that opponents state would result in abuses of society's most vulnerable.

The Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services heard testament on Senate Bill 239, which narrowly passed in the Senate. It would allow those 18 and older expected to live six months or less to ask for lethal medication they could self-administer to end their own lives.

Democratic Sen. Edgar Flores, a primary sponsor of the legislation, provided the costs by stating that lots of homeowners on opposing sides of the issue had actually shown him their individual stories related to death.

" No one I've spoken to yet has not come to the table taking part in the conversation through a lens of what is finest for Nevadans, what is best for people," he said.

There was no middle ground Wednesday on what "finest" might be - - not among lawmakers, medical experts or homeowners.

Sara Manns, who is with the advocacy group Compassion & & Choices, said medically helped dying has been utilized in 10 states and the District of Columbia without documented instances of abuse, a claim that opponents challenged.

Opponents state that the step could lead to insurer and even family members pressing patients to end their lives to lower costs, making the poor particularly vulnerable.

Democratic Assemblywoman Cecelia Gonzalez said the costs's requirement that a patient be detected as terminal by two various doctors supplies a protect against abuse. She likewise stated that information does not suggest that medical aid in dying is utilized regularly by the poor.

However, Republican Assemblyman Gregory Hafen said he was concerned about the effect of normalizing suicide on the state's psychological health crisis. Other Republican legislators disputed that appropriate safeguards versus abuse remain in place.

Doctor likewise took opposing views.

" As an ER physician, I see a multitude of clients suffer at the end of their lives," stated Dr. Clare Johnson, an emergency situation medicine physician in Reno. "I have actually seen guys who are 6-foot-2 weighing only 130 pounds as they finished chemotherapy. I'm relieved to understand that we in Nevada are once again considering an expense that would honor the options of terminally ill individuals to decide how and when they pass away.".

Nevertheless, a hospice physician testified, "Why do we think the patient care in Nevada will be improved if physicians are able to assist kill their clients rather than treating them? Nevada currently has in place infrastructure to honor all residents at the end of life. We can eliminate pain, handle symptoms, preserve dignity in the face of loss of function," he said.

Locals mentioned how seeing the deaths of enjoyed ones formed their views. One woman spoke of how after a toast with Dom Perignon, her passing away aunt in California - - where medically helped passing away is legal - - cheerfully ended her dreadful suffering by then swallowing a deadly mixed drink.

Another woman spoke of how her other half near death - - who stated he would have utilized medically helped passing away if available to him - - experienced a significant recovery, allowing the couple to then delight in the finest years of their marital relationship.

The expense will go to the complete Assembly for consideration.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.