Calif Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Controversial Bill That Allows for Assisted-Suicide of the Terminally Ill

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law this week a controversial bill that allows terminally ill people to take their own lives.

Brown said in a statement that he chose to approve ABX2 15 after imagining what it would be like to be terminally ill and in excruciating pain.

"The crux of the matter is whether the state of California should continue to make it a crime for a dying person to end his life, no matter how great his pain or suffering," Brown wrote in the letter, addressed to the California State Assembly.

"I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn't deny that right to others," Brown added.

Brown's actions have been criticized by the Catholic Church and anti-assisted suicide groups that have argued that the bill puts people in difficult economic circumstances in a tough position.

"This is a dark day for California and for the Brown legacy," Tim Rosales, a spokesman for Californians Against Assisted Suicide, said in a statement, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

"As someone of wealth and access to the world's best medical care and doctors, the governor's background is very different than that of millions of Californians living in healthcare poverty without that same access — these are the people and families potentially hurt by giving doctors the power to prescribe lethal overdoses to patients," Rosales added.