SACRAMENTO - The belief that individual Californians should have the final say over their final days was validated by the state’s largest political party over the weekend when Democratic leaders adopted a resolution of support for Death with Dignity.

Democrats “stand in strong support of efforts to ensure Death with Dignity for all Californians,” according to the resolution adopted by the California Democratic Party’s executive board during a regularly scheduled quarterly meeting this past weekend in Sacramento.

The resolution backs adoption of a law that would offer dying patients the right to bring their suffering to an end with the help of prescription medication, and notes that any such law should include significant safeguards against abuse. The resolution, endorsed by the party’s Disability Caucus, also includes a statement about the need to ensure the protection and rights of persons with disabilities.

“I think this highlights the fact that this is a mainstream issue,” said Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, a Van Nuys Democrat who has jointly authored a bill with Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, to give Californians similar end-of-life choices as those made available by Oregon’s landmark Death With Dignity Act.

“The Supreme Court has said this is an issue that should be worked out by the states, and I think that’s what our party, a party which respects the rights of individual people, is saying with this statement,” Levine said.

Opponents of the Berg-Levine bill have maintained the issue is highly controversial, despite the fact that nonpartisan polls show that nearly 3 of 4 Californians support it.

“Most Californians can imagine a situation in which they could understand someone making a choice to hasten their own death,” said Berg. “And, as usual, Democrats are the ones who align themselves with the thinking of most Californians. I think it’s a very good sign.”