SACRAMENTO - Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, introduced landmark legislation Thursday that would make California the second state in the nation to allow terminally ill patients the to end their own lives.

Assembly Bill 654, California Compassionate Choices Act, is modeled after Oregon's successful Death With Dignity Act. Its use would be restricted to mentally capable California adults who have less than six months to live.

For the past seven years, Oregon has been the only state where dying patients are allowed to ask their physicians for life-ending medication to control their own final days. Elsewhere, most experts acknowledge, the practice occurs, in one form or another, without the legal protections and clinical safeguards that exist in Oregon.

"There's no use pretending that dying people don't receive help to end their lives," said Berg. "We want to bring it out of the dark, and encourage patients to talk about all of their concerns, and be aware of all of their choices. It's only right."

Many patients who ultimately never use the option are comforted simply knowing it is there.

"We are giving dying Californians choices at the end of life," Levine said. "This bill provides the comfort they need to live their final days with dignity and a sense of peace."

Similar measures have been introduced over the past decade, and although public opinion is typically very supportive of the issue, none has been successful in the California Legislature. Berg and Levine say they hope that seven year's worth of carefully documented evidence from Oregon will add impetus to their bill.

"Reports from Oregon prove there is nothing to fear," Levine said. "We should not be afraid of a patient centered law that will provide comfort and improve care for California's terminally ill."

According to government surveys in Oregon, physicians became more focused on pain management and hospice services after the act became law.

"One of the great benefits we've found in Oregon is that end-of-life care has improved across the board since voters approved this right," Berg said. "We know that while a very small number of patients exercise this right, almost everyone is helped simply because it's an option."

The measure has a number of stringent restrictions, including:

• Two physicians must agree that the patient has less than six months to live.
• Both physicians must verify that the patient is capable of making decisions about their own care.
• Both physicians and the dispensing pharmacist must submit detailed reports to the Department of Health Services.
• The patients must make two oral requests and a written request.

Berg and Levine believe their measure offers a compassionate alternative to the current practice known as "terminal sedation," in which a patient is given sedatives and pain medication while food and water are withheld. Under this practice, a patient might remain unconscious for weeks while their body succumbs to disease and lack of nutrition and hydration.

The California Compassionate Choices Act would be completely voluntary for medical professionals and healthcare providers. No physician would ever be required to write a prescription for life-ending medication under this act.

The bill, sponsored by Denver-based Compassion & Choices, will likely be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee in the next several weeks.