SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Monday making California the fifth state in the nation to recognize a right to die for terminally ill patients, saying the emotionally charged bill forced him to consider “what I would want in the face of my own death.”
Brown, a lifelong Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian, said he acted after discussing the issue with many people — including a Catholic bishop and two of his own doctors.
“I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill,” the governor wrote in a signing statement that accompanied his signature.
Terminally ill patients will be allowed to legally end their lives using doctor-prescribed drugs. The measure applies only to mentally sound people and not those who are depressed or impaired.
State lawmakers passed the bill last month. A previous version failed despite the highly publicized case of Brittany Maynard, 29, a California woman with brain cancer who moved to Oregon to end her life.
