New Mexico Senate rejects bill that aimed to legalize assisted suicide

The New Mexico Senate has narrowly defeated a bill that is aimed at legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in the state.

Senate Bill 252, sponsored by Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerrillos), was rejected by a 22–20 vote last week. Seven Democrats joined 15 Republicans to oppose the measure, according to Santa Fe New Mexican.

The legislation would have allowed patients who are expected to die within six months to obtain a prescription for medication that would end their lives. Additionally, two doctors must attest that the patient is mentally competent.

Stefanics said that the bill was modeled after an Oregon law that was adopted in 1997. The measure requires a 48-hour waiting period between the time the prescription was written and filled.

One of the lawmakers who supported the legislation was Sen. Bill O'Neill (D-Albuquerque), who said that terminally ill patients in chronic pain should have the right to choose to end their lives.

Sen. Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho) said that he could not support the bill, arguing that doctors make mistakes every day, and someone who is diagnosed as terminally ill could actually recover.

The bill was also opposed by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and Right to Life New Mexico.

Right to Life Executive Director Dauneen Dolce said that New Mexico residents must be involved in fighting the bill to ensure that it does not pass in the future.

"You have to be actively involved in some way, from educating yourself or giving support to the organizations that are educating others, or [being] involved in the political arena," she told One News Now.

"If you don't do that, you are handing over our state [and] our laws, and the culture of death will come to us—and that will be from apathy," she added.

Dolce said that she expects that there will be fresh attempts to gain passage of the bill in the next session of the legislature, given that the vote was so close.

Assisted suicide is a fourth-degree felony in New Mexico under the current law. Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously against a lower court decision that struck down the state's prohibition against euthanasia.

"If we were to recognize an absolute, fundamental right to physician aid in dying, constitutional questions would abound regarding legislation that defined terminal illness or provided for protective procedures to assure that a patient was making an informed and independent decision," Justice Edward Chavez wrote on behalf of the panel, according to Christian News Network.