May 16, 2018 - 10:36 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Latest on California's law allowing life-ending drugs (all times local):
10:35 a.m.
California's attorney general plans to appeal a Riverside County judge's ruling blocking a 2016 state law that allows adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement Wednesday that he will seek an expedited review in an appeals court.
He says he strongly disagrees with Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia's ruling Tuesday that lawmakers illegally passed the law during a special session devoted to other topics. The judge gave Becerra five days to appeal.
The law allows adults to obtain life-ending drugs if a doctor determines they have six months or less to live.
Opponents say it lacks safeguards to prevent abuses.
An advocacy group estimates that in its first year 504 Californians requested prescriptions for medical aid in dying.
___
11:15 p.m.
Advocates say the terminally ill may suffer unnecessarily after a judge threw out a California law that allows adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia said Tuesday that lawmakers illegally passed the law during a special session devoted to other topics. The state attorney general has five days to appeal.
The law allows adults to obtain life-ending drugs if a doctor determines they have six months or less to live.
Opponents say it puts terminally ill patients at risk for coerced death and could become a way out for people who are uninsured or fearful of high medical bills.
Democratic Sen. Bill Monning of Carmel, who carried the original legislation, says there has been no reported abuse.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018