Maine Legislature Kills 'Death With Dignity' Bill

A bill that would allow terminally ill patients to commit suicide with lethal drugs and "die with dignity" has been shot down by the Maine House of Representatives.

"My conscience tells me that this is the wrong direction for a variety of reasons. This is not a partisan issue. It is a human issue," said Rep. Gay Grant told The Portland Press Herald.

The bipartisan legislation, defeated in an 85-61 vote on Tuesday, would have made it legal for doctors to prescribe fatal doses of medication to patients with six months or less to live.

The bill passed the Maine Senate by a single vote earlier this month. But it had also faced a possible veto from Gov. Paul LePage.

Under the bill, a patient with an "incurable and irreversible disease" could ask a doctor to prescribe a poisonous drug that would end their life.

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