In early November, 29-year-old Oregon resident Brittany Maynard took advantage of the state's law that lets terminally ill people end their lives.
Since then, dying with dignity laws have become a hot topic of discussion across the country.
The latest state to take a step forward in right-to-die legislation is New Jersey. On Monday, the state's senate committee met to discuss a bill that would give New Jersey residents the right to obtain a prescription to end their lives, NJ.com reported.
According to Trish Graber, a spokeswoman for the Senate Majority Office, the committee heard from Jessica Grennan from Compassion & Choices, a national proponent for the legislation, Ed Barocas of the ACLU, two representatives from the Medical Society of NJ, Sister Pat Codey of the Catholic Health Partnership and Marlina Schetting of NJ Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Janet Colbert, a terminally Ill patient, also spoke to the committee.
According to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee Chairman Joseph Vitale, the committee will vote at a future hearing whether or not to pass the bill.
If passed in the future, bill A-2270 would require terminally ill patients that want to end their lives to verbally request a prescription from their attending physician. A second request would have to be made at least 15 days after the initial one, and a request in writing would have to be signed by two witnesses as well. The physician would have to offer the patient a chance to rescind their request, and another consulting physician would then be called upon to confirm the original diagnosis and reaffirm the patient is capable of making a decision, according to NJ.com
Vitale withdrew his name from the bill earlier in the year.
"I initially supported the idea of the bill and signed on," he said. "After a time, I had more questions and concerns than answers. So I thought it was honest to remove my name and continue to think about it."
Last month, the New Jersey State Assembly just barely passed a version of the legislation -- not surprising given the fragile moral nature of the topic.
