In the U.S., citizens have many rights, but they do not, strictly speaking, have the right to control their own death. Although attempting to take one’s life is not considered a felony in this country, aiding and abetting the act is. If Tom McDonald wanted, or needed, medical help to end his life, he couldn’t, legally, get it in California, where it’s a crime to help terminally ill patients hasten their own deaths. Although the language used in public debate to describe the issue reflects a moderation of popular opinion — from “physician-assisted suicide” to “physician-assisted death” to “aid in dying” — legislation has not followed.

Now Californians are trying once again, for the fifth time in 15 years, to enact legislation that would permit people such as Tom McDonald to control their deaths. A new bill — essentially a carbon copy of the death with dignity legislation that died in the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee last summer — was just re-introduced. Proponents of the law hope to take advantage of what they see as a more favorable atmosphere in the state legislature since the election of 34 new members last November. In 1992 voters defeated a ballot measure by a 9% margin. In 2000 opponents kept a bill from being voted on by the full Assembly. Then this past June, the California Compassionate Choices Act, was defeated in committee by a single vote.

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