Co-Authors of Bill to Aid Terminally Ill Californians Move Ahead With Their Goal of Passing Legislation

By None, California State Assembly Democratic Caucus, Jan. 24, 2006

California Assembly Members Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) [left] and Patty Berg (D-Eureka) [right].

• (mp3) Assembly Member Berg discusses AB 651

• (mp3) Assemblyman Levine discusses AB 651

• (mp3) Gregg Gour talks about the importance of AB 651

(SACRAMENTO) - The co-authors of controversial "Compassionate Care" legislation are preparing for another season of lobbying and educating colleagues about the importance of allowing terminally ill patients the right to obtain prescription medication to end their own lives.

The efforts of Assembly Members Patty Berg (D-Eureka) and Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) got a boost in the first part of January when the U. S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that rejected attempts by the Bush Administration to strike down Oregon's "Death With Dignity" Act.

The 6-3 ruling was made on a years-old case brought by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, in which he argued that the federal government could override Oregon's approval for the use of prescription medication to help a terminally ill patient to hasten their own death. A significant majority of the court rejected Ashcroft's argument.

"I am elated by the news," said Assemblywoman Berg, who is co-author of AB 651, giving terminally ill Californians the same right enjoyed in Oregon. "I think this will definitely help the momentum we've been building in support of our bill."

"(The court ruling) is a response to all of those who said, ‘Well, why don't you wait until the Supreme Court decides?', or (who) questioned the validity and constitutionality of the law," added Assemblyman Levine. "Clearly, the highest court in the land has ruled that it is permissible for the states to do this."

AB 651 - The "Compassionate Care Act" - would allow a person who has been diagnosed with less than six months to live to get a prescription to end their own lives, after clearing several legal, medical and ethical hurdles. The patient must make several oral and written requests for the medication, be evaluated by two physicians, and be able to self-administer their medication.

"We require that no relative of an individual can be a witness, that if an individual is not currently a patient of Hospice that they must undergo a psychological examination – and the process then stops – (and) that an individual who is requesting that they be able to move forward with this be given by the physician, in writing, a list of all the resources and the alternatives available," detailed Berg.

The measure was introduced in the Assembly last year and was approved by two Assembly committees, but the two lawmakers decided to park the bill in the Senate and hold off on moving the measure forward until after last fall's special election.

...And until they were confident there was enough political will in the Capitol to move the bill forward.

"The momentum built upon from last year, the educational efforts, the grassroots support that we have been able to garner (allows us) to go around to our colleagues and show them that this is not something to be afraid of, that this is popular," explained Levine. "The people of the State of California believe in having these choices for themselves. The educational effort is really starting to pay off, and we believe that we'll be able to successfully get this bill to the governor's desk this year."

Though Governor Schwarzenegger told a recent gathering of reporters that the debate over "Physician-assisted suicide" is a matter best left up to the voters to decide, Assemblyman Levine says the Governor is open to the legislation, but wants to read up on it first. "I believe, obviously, that's a very responsible position to take," Levine said, "but clearly, he's not predisposed against the bill. He said he wants to read it and know what safeguards are in place. We have begun the process – we've sat down with the Department of Health Services, we've both had informal conversations with his staff, and we're confident that he is very open to it. We believe (the) openness will allow us, when the time comes, to go sit down with all of our supporters, present our case to the governor and, knowing that he is a compassionate and fair-minded person, (we) believe that he will sign the bill this year."

January 2006: Gregg Gour, an HIV patient for nearly 24 years, spoke out in favor of California HB 651, the "Compassionate Care Act."

Gregg Gour, a terminally ill California man, passionately supports AB 651. An HIV patient of nearly 24 years, Gour decided in 2004 to stop dealing with all of the medications he was taking – and the side effects that came with them – and let nature take its course. Gour has been given only six months to live. "I sat down and weighed all of the options and I made the rational and logical choice that was best for me and for my life," he recalled at a recent Capitol press conference. "However, this time the scales tipped to the side of no longer trying to fight the disease. So on July 31st, 2004, I stopped taking all of my HIV meds. I am allowing the disease to run its course without any prevention in my part. I no longer want to fight death."

Gour says he wants to be able to make the life choice that is right for him. "I want more options, in the event that the pain and the discomfort of the dying process becomes unbearable. Starving myself to death or lingering in medication-induced comas are not adequate choices for me. If I lived in Oregon – or if the ‘Compassionate Choices Act" was already a law – I would qualify for assistance in dying. But that is not the case. I probably will not live long enough to have that choice. However, (I support this bill) so that others will be allowed – openly and freely – to make that choice under the safeguards and provisions provided by it."

Assembly Members Berg and Levine say their challenge in educating their colleagues about the bill is making legislators comfortable with the concept of dying.

"Death is the only unknown really left, but it's also the only certainty," said Levine. "We don't know what death is about, we can't explain it; it creates fear in people. What we are trying to do is allow death to be a comfort as well. But we need to educate members, and members still have this knee-jerk fear of death."