Brittany-Maynard.jpg

The widower of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old terminally ill woman who ended her life last year under Oregon's law that allows assisted suicide, has urged New Jersey lawmakers to adopt a similar law. A Rutgers University poll found 63 percent of New Jerseyans want to see the law passed. (AP Photo | Maynard Family)

Today, the state Assembly

on a bill to protect your right to die without needless suffering. If you have six months or less to live and want to end your own life peacefully, with the help of a doctor, you should be allowed to - as you already are in five other states.



The sponsor of the "Aid in Dying" bill, Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), argues it's simply about empowering patients to make their own choices. His mother, a Roman Catholic who died of breast cancer, wouldn't have wanted assisted suicide. She died in hospice care. But not without the sort of merciful, wink-and-nod overdose that's so common there.



"It was someone else's choice to administer that last bit of morphine that caused her to leave us," he said.

In the end, suicide with a doctor's help: Moran



Patients should also have the ability to make that choice for themselves, he argues -- only under a doctor's supervision, and sparing their families the trauma of a violent suicide. Opponents counter that the bill could lead to pressure for the elderly or handicapped to kill themselves, to spare their families money or anguish. But there's no evidence of that kind of barbarity happening in other places.



And while doctor-assisted suicide has been legal in Oregon for nearly a decade, only 218 patients were given prescriptions for life-ending drugs last year, and 132 took action. Many ultimately chose hospice care. But just knowing they had a choice gave them more peace of mind.



Doctors that don't want to participate won't be required to, Burzichelli says, and the bill is layered with safeguards to ensure a patient is mentally stable and has a fatal diagnosis. Even if it never becomes law while Chris Christie is in office, we should polish it up and have it ready for the next governor.

We're terminally ill. Why won't N.J. let my sister and me die in peace? | Opinion



We know this policy works, based on other states. And regardless of whether assisted suicide would ever be your choice, most agree it should be an option for someone else. Those who oppose the idea while advocating for small government in every other realm, like Christie, won't be able to stand much longer on that hypocrisy.



The majority of New Jerseyans - particularly those under age 35 - support assisted suicide, polls show. So the question isn't whether this will become legal. It's when. And for those facing the horror of a drawn-out, painful death without any safe back-up option, we can't act soon enough.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.