Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo Vetoes Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 6, 2023   |   10:04AM   |   Carson City, Nevada

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a bill to legalize assisted suicide Monday, saying there are better options for suffering patients than killing them.

The anti-life legislation, state Senate Bill 239, would have allowed doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to patients diagnosed with a terminal condition to commit suicide.

The bill passed the state Senate by one vote in April and the Assembly by four votes in May. It appears unlikely that the Democrat-controlled legislature has enough votes to override the governor’s veto.

In his veto message, Lombardo said he did not feel comfortable signing a bill to legalize the killing practice.

“End of life decisions are never easy,” the Republican governor said. “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 improvements in advanced pain management make the end-of-life provisions in SB 239 unnecessary,” he continued.

Melissa Clement, director of Nevada Right to Life, thanked voters for speaking up against the bill and lawmakers for listening to their concerns.

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“Your calls, your emails, your texts were a big part of tonight’s victory. Compassion & Choices, formerly known as The Hemlock Society, had a number of paid lobbyists, but at the end of the day, your compassion for the elderly, the medically marginalized, the vulnerable, and the disabled prevailed,” Clement said. “… Legislators know that phone calls, emails, and personal testimony will show up when needed. Elections have consequences. Thank you, Governor Joe Lombardo for standing up for life.”

8 News Now reports the pro-assisted suicide lobbying group Compassion & Choices claimed the bill has strong public support, but the state legislature received more than twice as many public comments against the bill as those in favor.

If it had passed, the legislation would have allowed adults diagnosed with a terminal condition to request drugs from a doctor to kill themselves. The bill also would have created misleading death certificates by requiring doctors to list the person’s terminal condition as their cause of death instead of the true cause: assisted suicide by lethal drugs. It would not have required the coroner to certify the cause of death either.

Additionally, the bill would have forced health insurance companies to cover patients who want to die by assisted suicide.

Responding to the governor’s veto, lawyer and bioethicist Wesley Smith said assisted suicide is a “profoundly dangerous” practice. He pointed to Canada and Germany where legalized killing has been expanding, and there is talk of allowing euthanasia of children and homeless people.

“… assisted suicide isn’t only unnecessary, it is profoundly dangerous,” Smith wrote at National Review. “Once we decide to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, we open a Pandora’s box of continual killing expansion — as in Canada — to death on demand — as in Germany.”

In the United States, 10 states and Washington, D.C. allow doctor assisted suicide. Hundreds of people die by assisted suicide every year in Oregon, Washington, California, Vermont and other states where the killing practice is allowed.

Meanwhile, pro-life leaders and disability rights organizations are working hard to defend life. In April, four disability advocacy groups sued California, arguing its assisted suicide law discriminates against people who struggle with life-long ailments by treating their lives as less worthy of protection.

Action: Contact Nevada state lawmakers.