The Line: End Of Life Legislation
February 1, 2019 – Gene Grant and The Line panelists discuss two very sensitive and controversial bills that have made another appearance during the 2019 legislation sessions. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham talked about one of them (HB 51) in her State of the State Address. That particular bill is a decades-old measure that makes it illegal for a doctor or hospital to perform an abortion, except in a limited set of situations. The bill is basically obsolete given the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the famous case Roe V. Wade. But, with changes on the Supreme Court, supporters want the state to repeal the bill before anything changes on the federal level. The other measure (HB 90) would allow for some terminally ill patients to legally receive medical help in ending their lives.
Line Panelists:
Dede Feldman, former NM State Senator
Edmund E. Perea, attorney, public safety expert, and executive director of the Center for Law, Policy, & Public Safety, LLC
Diane Snyder, former NM state senator
Harry Van Buren, professor in the UNM Anderson School of Management
For Further Reading:
- Panel Adds Time Frame to New Mexico Aid-in-Dying Bill – Andrew Oxford, Santa Fe New Mexican
- Physician Assisted Death With a Twist: Should Lethal Drugs Be Provided to the Terminally Ill Through Telemedicine – Jennifer Graham, Deseret News
- Life and Death at the New Mexico Legislature – Santa Fe New Mexican
- Abortion-Rights Bill One Step Closer to Floor Vote – Dan McKay, Albuquerque Journal