(CNN) Terminally ill adults in New Jersey will now be able to ask for medical help to end their lives.

Gov. Phil Murphy has signed the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act. And the law goes into effect August 1.

It will allow adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live to get a prescription for life-ending medication.

This make New Jersey the ninth jurisdiction to allow physician-assisted suicide. The others are: California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Hawaii, Montana and the District of Columbia.

The law requires either a psychiatrist or psychologist must determine that the patient has the mental capacity to make the decision. The prescription is a series of self-administered pills that can be taken at home.

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