(WHTM) -- A group of House Democrats is proposing a bill to let terminally ill adults end their own lives. They say it gives people dignity, but Republicans disagree.
The bill's sponsors say several other states have these laws, and it is time for Pennsylvania to catch up, but Republicans say the government should not be involved.
"It's giving individuals the opportunity to end their life with dignity," Rep. Melissa Shusterman (D-Chester County), one of the sponsors of the bill, said. "For many patients, they are in so much pain and agony, that they would like to determine how and when they would like to end their life."
There are strict eligibility requirements.
"You have to have exhausted every other type of care and only have six months left to live," Shusterman said.
She added Democrats worked with disability advocates to add safeguards. The bill would not apply to people with non-terminal mental or physical health issues, including a disability.
"We vetted the bill to make sure there's no opportunity for anyone to take advantage of this bill," Shusterman said.
However, her colleagues across the aisle say this bill is wrong.
"Taking life outside of the natural course of that life is never right," Pa. House Republican Caucus spokesperson Jason Gottesman said. "What it seems like is from the earliest stages of life to now the later stages of life, Democrats have an unhealthy obsession with ending life."
Gottesman said the government's job is to make sure people have resources, not an "exit strategy."
"Make sure people are aging with dignity, that they're provided the best health care system," he said.
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Shusterman argues the bill empowers people to make their own choices.
"Death with dignity allows patients to have the control back that they haven't had since they've been diagnosed," she said. "They deserve to have a compassionate way, a medical way to die when they determine that the pain is too much and the challenge is too much."
Shusterman says the bill's language is going through final tweaks and she and her co-sponsors plan to introduce it in regular sessions. Some Senate Democrats are also looking at reintroducing legislation on the same issue, similar to bills proposed in past sessions.
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