Maine legislators are contemplating the highly controversial "death-with-dignity" law allowing suffering patients to legally end their own lives.
Here are five things to know:
1. Maine Sen. Roger Katz devised a bill modeled after legislation passed in Vermont two years prior allowing physicians to administer lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients who want to quicken their death.
2. If Maine rules in favor of the bill, it will be the sixth state in the country to pass such a law.
3. The chances of the bill passing are unlikely as lawmakers have repeatedly rejected similar propositions with voters defeating a ballot referendum on the issue in 2002.
4. Kandyce Powell, executive director of the Maine Hospice Council, opposes the bill, claiming the bill would not resurface if more people had sufficient access to end-of-life care.
5. Sen. Katz agrees healthcare access should be expanded, but this is not enough for terminally ill patients who cannot bear palliative care.
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