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Committee hears emotional, divided testimony on medical aid-in-dying bill
Summary
House Bill 5219 would create a legal mechanism for a terminally ill, capacitated adult to request prescribed medication to end their life; the Judiciary Committee heard hours of testimony from survivors, clinicians and legal advocates.
The House Judiciary Committee held an extended hearing on House Bill 5219, a measure that would establish a legal process for terminally ill patients (those with a physician’s prognosis of six months or less to live) to request and receive prescribed medication to end their life. Representative Ajello sponsored the bill and introduced it as comparable to laws enacted in other jurisdictions.
Supporters included Jennifer Hopkins McDowell, who gave personal testimony about a family history of a degenerative neurological disorder and urged the committee to allow patients to decide when to end protracted suffering. Kira (Cara) Phillips testified about her mother’s suicide after a long cancer…
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