Melissa Clement of Nevada Right to Life is pleased that Governor Joe Lombardo (R) has vetoed the "medical-aid-in-dying" bill (SB 239) after both houses of the Nevada Legislature approved it.
Sponsored by nine Democrats and co-sponsored by 10 more, the measure would have allowed terminally ill Nevadans to self-administer medication to end their own lives. The bill reportedly contained a number of steps to ensure the decision was not influenced by others, as well as legal protections for medical personnel involved in the process.
A fatal dose of an unspecified drug would have been dispensed by a physician or pharmacist and administered by the patient, and the patient's death certificate would have stated the cause of death as his or her terminal condition, not "mercy killing, euthanasia, assisted suicide, suicide or homicide."
"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," Gov. Lombardo said.
"[All of the] assisted suicide laws that they have put up have been bad laws, but this was one of the worst," Clement tells AFN. "It had absolutely no guardrails to protect the vulnerable, to protect the disabled, and to protect those who are suffering from the mental health crisis that comes along with getting a difficult diagnosis."
The Senate only approved the measure by one vote, but Clement does not expect Lombardo's veto to be the end of it. She is sure a veto override attempt will come in the next session in 2025.
"One of the first things that will happen is there will be a vote to uphold or to override the veto," the right to lifer explains. "It is imperative that pro-lifers in Nevada understand that this next election truly is life and death, and we need to send enough people who value life to the legislature."
It only takes 1/3rd of the legislature plus one to uphold the veto, which means at least eight pro-lifers are needed in the Senate and at least 15 in the Assembly. To accomplish that, Clement says pro-lifers must show up to vote; no one can sit on the couch in the next election cycle.
