ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Democrats are pushing a proposal that would allow terminally ill patients in New Mexico to end their lives with help from doctors.
The measure — opposed by the Catholic Church and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez — would prevent New Mexico doctors from facing prosecution in such cases.
In June, the New Mexico Supreme Court refused to overturn the state’s existing assisted suicide law, meaning that aiding such deaths remains a fourth-degree felony.
The proposal to change the law appears to have support among Democrats who control both chambers. The bill cleared its first test in the state Senate March 3 and a competing version was moving through the House.
The Democratic-controlled Senate Public Affairs Committee voted to move the bill that would prevent New Mexico doctors from facing prosecution for helping terminally ill patients end their lives.
Here are some things to know:
THE CHALLENGE
Five years ago, a Santa Fe woman with advanced cancer filed a lawsuit supported by the American Civil Liberties Union in New Mexico arguing that physician-assisted suicide was a constitutional right. It said doctors should be free to prescribe drugs to patients to humanely end some lives.
