The Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday supporting end of life legislation that is being hashed out in the California state legislature.
The bill (SB 128) would enable mentally competent but terminally ill adults the choice to take a prescription medication from a physician that would induce death.
Brittany Maynard a 29-year-old woman with terminal brain cancer, publicized the idea she would end her own life in such a fashion by moving to a state that would allow a doctor to legally prescribe these drugs. Maynard ended her life in November.
Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia are currently considering end of life legislation. However, pro-life groups remain concerned about the enactment of these policies.
Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren and other leaders of faith spoke out against the California legislation and Warren referenced his own son who committed suicide in 2013, The Gospel Herald reported.
“I oppose this law as a theologian and as the father of a son who took his life after struggling with mental illness for 27 years,” he said.
Warren added, “The prospect of dying can be frightening, but we belong to God, and death and life are in God’s hands. … We need to make a radical commitment to be there for those who are dying in our lives.”