New Jersey could soon become the eighth state to allow terminally ill patients to legally end their own lives with medical help.

Both houses in the Legislature are scheduled to vote Monday on a medically assisted suicide bill that has twice before passed in the Assembly only to stall in the Senate. It could be a difficult vote for many lawmakers on a day when they also face a decision over whether to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use.

For years, supporters and opponents of the assisted suicide measure, S-1072/A-1504, have argued over its merits. Proponents often cite the painful and prolonged deaths of loved ones to argue that people who are already dying should have the right to end their suffering on their own terms.

Many say they are not sure whether they would take lethal medication themselves, but they would like to have the option. Twenty-six New Jersey doctors recently wrote an op-ed for NJ.com backing the measure.

But many in the medical community remain concerned that medically assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with doctors’ charge to “do no harm.” Some critics argue that such a policy could be a slippery slope to a law that extends to other categories of people in New Jersey.

In addition, opponents have warned that medically assisted suicide laws incentivize insurance companies to pressure patients into taking lethal medication over more costly treatment options. And, they say, there are not enough safeguards in the New Jersey proposal to prevent abuse.

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The New Jersey measure, modeled on a law passed in Oregon in 1997, would allow a terminally ill, mentally competent, adult resident of New Jersey to request and use a prescription for lethal medication.

Two physicians would be required to attest that the person had less than six months to live. The patient would have to ask for the medication three times — twice orally and once in writing — before receiving it. The written request would have to be witnessed by two people, including one who is not a family member, a beneficiary of the patient's will or the attending physician.

The patient would then be required to self-administer the medicine, if he or she decides to take it at all.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said in an interview last month that he was “very close” to having enough votes to pass the bill in the full Senate, where it stalled in both 2014 and 2016.

Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who would have the final say on the measure if it clears the Legislature, has not publicly shared his position on the matter.

New Jersey residents have previously been receptive to such a measure. According to a 2015 Rutgers-Eagleton poll, 63 percent of residents supported legislation to “allow terminally ill patients to obtain a prescription to end their lives,” while 29 percent were opposed.

Email: pugliese@northjersey.com