Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed a bill Monday that would have legalized assisted suicide in the state.
Senate Bill 239, which would have allowed terminally ill patients to end their own lives, was passed by lawmakers last month. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lombardo called the bill “unnecessary” because improvements have been made in palliative care for those who are terminally ill.
“End of life decisions are never easy,” Lombardo wrote in his veto message. “Individuals and family members must often come together to face many challenges — including deciding what is the best course of treatment for a loved one. Fortunately, expansions in palliative care services and continued improvement in advanced pain management make the end-of-life provisions in SB239 unnecessary. Given recent progress in science and medicine and the fact that only a small number of states and jurisdictions allow for similar end-of-life protocols, I am not comfortable supporting this bill.”
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Council Denise Burke also shared a statement following Lombardo’s veto:
Every life is sacred and has inherent value. Physician-assisted suicide is neither compassionate nor an appropriate solution for those who are suffering—it ends an innocent human life without justification. Furthermore, many bills that legalize physician-assisted suicide, including Senate Bill 239, violate the rights of conscience of health care professionals by forcing them to participate in ending the lives of their patients. Doctors prescribe medicine, not death. The state shouldn’t order them to act contrary to their duty to act as healers. That’s why we commend Gov. Lombardo for vetoing this dangerous legislation.
The pro-death assisted suicide and euthanasia organization Compassion and Choices blasted Lombardo’s decision, noting that he is the first governor to veto an assisted suicide bill narrowly passed by the legislature. The group claims that 82% of Nevada citizens are in favor of allowing assisted suicide legislation.
“Despite these record-high poll numbers in support of medical aid in dying, thousands of phone calls, petitions and emails Gov. Lombardo refused to meet with bill supporters before becoming the first governor to veto a medical-aid-in-dying bill,” said Kim Callinan, president and CEO of Compassion & Choices Action Network, adding, “Gov. Lombardo did not fence in healthcare options for pregnant people when he signed a bill to protect their reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, but then he flip-flops and vetoes an end-of-life care option for terminally ill adults and violates their bodily autonomy. He’s also ignoring the will of the people by vetoing this bill.”
The bill’s progress through the legislature was much closer than Compassion and Choices let on, passing through the Senate by just one vote in April.
