After months of introspection and indecision, California Gov. Jerry Brown finally came out to put his stamp of approval on a literally life and death matter. On Monday, he signed ABX2 15, also called the "End of Life Option Act."
Brown said he reached a decision after carefully examining his thoughts "on what I would want in the face of my own death."
"I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain," he wrote in a letter addressed to state lawmakers. "I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill.
"And I wouldn't deny that right to others."
He said the most important question that needs to be answered is "whether the state of California should continue to make it a crime for a dying person to end his life no matter how great his pain and suffering."
He said as far as he is concerned, and those of the bill's proponents and supporters, the answer is "no."
Critics quickly pounced on Brown for his stated rationale in signing the new law. In a statement, the Californians Against Assisted Suicide said Brown and the bill's proponents should have first considered how the law will affect the poor, not the rich like them.
"As someone of wealth and access to the world's best medical care and doctors, the governor's background is very different than that of millions of Californians living in health care poverty without that same access," said the coalition. "These are the people and families potentially hurt by giving doctors the power to prescribe lethal overdoses to patients."
Before he made up his mind on signing the law, Brown heard numerous appeals for him to veto the legislation. Some of the opposition voices came from progressive legislators representing low-income districts.
After the state Senate passed the bill last month, The Californians Against Assisted Suicide said the option to seek death given to terminal patients is just a "myth in the context of our unjust health care reality."
"End-of-life treatment options are already limited for millions of people—constrained by poverty, disability discrimination, and other obstacles. Adding this so-called 'choice' into our dysfunctional health care system will push people into cheaper lethal options," the coalition warned.
However, Brown's signing of the law was greeted warmly by Christy O'Donnell, a 47-year-old single mother from Santa Clarity with lung, brain, spine, rib and liver cancer who testified in support of the legislation.
"I'm overjoyed for all the terminally ill people in California, who can now relax knowing they finally have the choice of aid in dying as one of their end-of-life options!" O'Donnell told CNN. "No more worrying that they will suffer great physical and emotional pain at the end of their life when they have already suffered painfully for so long as a result of their terminal illnesses."
