The Tennessee legislature has began hearings on whether to legalise assisted suicide, an action prompted by an activist who said ending one's life is the "ultimate civil right."

Pro- and anti-physician-assisted suicide aired their opinions on the matter at the state capitol on Tuesday.

"We think it's humane to euthanise an animal when they get to the point they can't take care of themselves. Why can't we do the same for people?" Dr. Douglas Essinger told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. "What about the patients' rights to die with dignity? I think that should be the paramount issue here."

Activist John Jay Hooker, 84, who is suffering from terminal cancer, urged legislators to approve the procedure without delay.

"If we have the power to seek happiness, guaranteed by our own Constitution, then we have the power to take our own lives when they become no longer tolerable," he said.

Others like Jose Rodriguez of the Memphis Center for Independent Living remained opposed to assisted suicide, saying that "alleviating suffering is different from eliminating the sufferer."

Republican State Rep. John Lundberg expressed his opposition to the procedure. "When you talk about euthanasia I don't like that. I think us as a state [we should] try to give people hope and opportunities, not death," he said.

The hearing was held days after the California Senate approved a bill called the End of Life Option Act that allows physician-assisted deaths.

The bill was inspired by Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old San Francisco Bay Area resident with brain cancer who transferred to Oregon last year to enable her to fulfil her wish to die.

Maynard and her family lobbied for the approval of the California bill.

First Things said in a report this year that there was an increase in suicides in European countries that have legalised physician-assisted suicide.

"In those countries that have legalised euthanasia (Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg) the numbers seeking the procedure are spiraling ever upward," it said.

In 2013, there were 1,087 cases of euthanasia in Belgium, up by 27 percent from 2012. In the Netherlands, it has been estimated that 12.3 percent of all deaths are now through euthanasia.