BY DANIEL GAITAN | daniel@lifemattersmedia.org

California will become the fifth state in the nation to allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives with doctor-prescribed drugs after Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday he signed the state’s so-called “Death with Dignity” legislation.

Brown, a lifelong Roman Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian, signed the legislation passed by state lawmakers after a contentious and deeply personal debate, The Associated Press reports. Until now, Brown had refused to comment on the issue.

“In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death,” he said in a statement.

The Catholic Church remains one of the staunchest opponents to such legislation and argues it reduces the “sanctity of life.” Church officials targeted Catholic lawmakers before the bill’s passage and urged the governor to veto it.

“Pope Francis invites all of us to create our good society by seeing through the eyes of those who are on the margins, those in need economically, physically, psychologically and socially,” the California Catholic Conference said in a statement after its passage. “We ask the governor to veto this bill.”

The End of Life Option Act, modeled on Oregon’s controversial Death with Dignity Act, would require terminally ill patients to submit two oral requests (a minimum of 15 days apart) and one written request to his or her attending physician. The written request must also be signed in front of two witnesses. They must attest that the patient is of sound mind and not being coerced.

The bill passed the Legislature Sept. 11 after a previous version failed this year.

Proponents of the practice used the high-profile death of 29-year-old cancer patient Brittany Maynard to generate support in the nation’s most populous state.

In 2014, Maynard was diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma and was given six months to live. Maynard and her husband, Dan Diaz, moved from California to Oregon to obtain doctor-prescribed barbiturates.

Working with the right-to-die advocacy group Compassion & Choices, Maynard used her story to raise awareness about the practice and inspire other terminally ill Americans to end their lives on similar terms.

Many physicians, bioethicists and religious leaders caution that physician-assisted suicide is incompatible with physicians’ primary role as healer and would foster resentment towards sick people hoping to live as long as possible. The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physicians organization, strongly opposes the practice.

Physician-assisted suicide is legal in only a handful of states, including Oregon (the first state to legalize the practice in 1997), Washington (passed by ballot measure), Vermont (passed by state Legislature), New Mexico and Montana (allowed by the courts).

Reaction on social media was swift, with both sides of the debate tweeting their reactions:

Dark day for CA. Brown signs assisted suicide bill. #noassistedsuicdeCA — CA Catholic Conf (@CACatholicConf) October 5, 2015

Nine reasons why #deathwithdignity is dangerous and an all-around bad idea: from my blog @cnalive http://t.co/sYGM2LtThG — Mary Rezac (@maryrezac) October 5, 2015

This is important progress. I strongly support death with dignity. https://t.co/RAMnJwsbym — Zack Ford (@ZackFord) October 5, 2015