Steve Burns
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) In a bid to join five other states in allowing physician-assisted suicide, the D.C. Council Wednesday gave preliminary approval to the so-called Death with Dignity bill, amid impassioned pleas from both sides of the issue and tearful testimony from Councilmembers.

“This is by far my toughest vote,” Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie said through tears while mentioning his father who passed away earlier this year. “My family had to watch him suffer. And I wouldn’t wish that on anybody else.”

The preliminary vote on first reading of the bill came out to 10-2. Among other provisions, the bill requires patients to receive a diagnosis of less than six months to live from two independent doctors, as well as to request the lethal drugs three separate times.

Opponents argued the bill could put the elderly and those with disabilities at risk as they could face pressure from others to end their lives. Councilmember Mary Cheh, the main sponsor of the bill, said the evidence in the other five states is not there to support those claims.

“There are sturdy protections in this bill against the parade of horribles that have been trotted out,” she said. “To deny (death) to those that competently choose it is to simply prolong the process of death.”

The bill still has to go through a final vote, which could come later this month. Mayor Muriel Bowser has not indicated where she stands on the bill. It could also come udner scrutiny from Congress, which has oversight over all District laws.

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