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East County News Service
October 20, 2015 (Sacramento)--Opponents of California’s new Aid in Dying Law, also known as the Right to Die, have launched a signature gathering effort seeking to put a petition on the ballot to overturn the measure.
If the measure qualifies for the ballot by getting signatures from 365,880 registered voters, the Aid in Dying Law will be put on life support—suspended until voters weigh in.
The effort to repeal the law is being led by Stephanie Parker, a patient who suffers from scleroderma, a terminal disease of the connective tissue. She says, “Those confronting their most difficult days should be treated with compassion, understanding and support. Our medical response should not be to encourage them to end their lives prematurely.”
Supporters of the Aid in Dying Law, however, believe that compassionate treatment means giving those suffering pain from terminal illness the right to end their ordeal as painlessly as possible, with help from willing physicians.
The effort to repeal the new law faces a steep uphill battle, since a recent Gallup Poll found that 68% of Americans polled said they support allowing a doctor help end the life of a patient with a terminal illness in severe pain if the patient and the patient’s family requests the doctor’s assistance.
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