{"id":238201,"date":"2021-01-17T11:38:58","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T17:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=238201"},"modified":"2021-01-16T12:49:50","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T18:49:50","slug":"ct-lawmakers-introduce-assisted-suicide-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/ct-lawmakers-introduce-assisted-suicide-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut lawmakers introduce assisted suicide bill again"},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to the Hartford Courant<\/a>, Connecticut lawmakers will again introduce an assisted suicide bill despite multiple failures to pass similar legislation beginning in 2013 \u2014 none of which made it out of committee.<\/p>\n

“It is one of the priority bills of the public health committee,” Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport) told the Hartford Courant. “A couple tweaks here and there, nothing of real consequence reflecting some of the learning we’ve had from experience of other states.”<\/p>\n

Opponents say it will codify lethal disability discrimination into law. “Some people will get suicide prevention and others suicide assistance, and the difference will be based on their disability status,” said<\/a> Stephen Mendelsohn, member of Second Thoughts Connecticut which opposes assisted suicide legislation.<\/p>\n

Under the previous bill, a patient was required to submit two written requests at least 15 days apart to a physician with two other people witnessing the requests. A consulting physician would then be required to examine the patient, confirm the first doctor’s initial diagnosis, and then determine if the patient were competent and requesting death voluntarily.<\/p>\n

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