Tennessee could become the first Republican state to legalize assisted dying, as part of a new bill being considered in the state legislature.
Lawmakers have introduced a right-to-die bill that, if passed, would make it legal for terminally ill adults with only six months to live to end their lives.
The bill was introduced this month by Democrat Bob Freeman, whose friends had faced “terrible end-of-life situations.”
Currently, ten Democratic states have right-to-die laws, as does DC, some of which are more lenient than others.
Lawmakers have introduced a right-to-die bill that, if passed, would make it legal for terminally ill adults with only six months to live to end their lives (stock photo)
In states where right-to-die laws have been passed, patients typically must have been told they have only six months to live and must have received counseling.
The Tennessee bill HB1710 was introduced in the statehouse in Nashville on January 9 of this year.
It still has a long way to go before it becomes law, as it must survive two readings in the House without opposition, a deliberation in committee, a vote in the House, and then two readings, a deliberation, and a vote in the Senate.
It will then have to be signed by Republican Governor Bill Lee before it becomes law.
It’s not clear how long the process could take, but in California it took just two months to pass the legislature.
At least four other Republican states are currently considering legislation to authorize assisted dying: Florida, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.
A previous bill to legalize assisted dying in Tennessee failed in 2017.
Congressman Bob Freeman told local news, “I recently had several close friends go through terrible end-of-life situations for their family members who wanted the pain to be over, and that is not an option.
“They just had to live in pain for the last six months of their lives.”
“(But) they should have gone to a facility, talked to a medical professional, gotten the necessary counseling and gone through that medically, and that decision is not available to Tennesseans today.”
He added: ‘If we know that someone is not going to get better and is not going to recover, we have to give that person the opportunity, if he or she is of right mind, to be able to make that decision and act on that decision. ‘
The first state to legalize assisted dying in the US was Oregon, which passed the measure in 1994.