A Bill to legalise assisted suicide has been struck down in the US state of Maine.
The State House of Representatives voted 85-61 against the LD 347 Bill.
It comes shortly after a Bill to legalise assisted suicide in New Mexico was also rejected after cross-party opposition.
‘Gift from God’
Speaking out against the Bill, Representative Roger Reed said: “There is no life on Earth without pain and suffering”.
“Life is a gift from God regardless of its circumstances”, he added.
Under the Bill, doctors would have been allowed to prescribe fatal doses of medication to patients deemed to have fewer than six months to live.
Governor Paul LePage had promised to veto the legislation had it been passed.
Life is a gift from God regardless of its circumstances.
New Mexico
In March the New Mexico Senate voted against introducing assisted suicide by 22 votes to 20.
Dauneen Dolce, Executive Director of Right to Life New Mexico, said opposition to the legalisation of assisted suicide had stopped the “culture of death” from coming to New Mexico.
However, the practice is legal in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, and Vermont.
UK
Assisted suicide remains illegal in the UK.
Under the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a person who intentionally encourages or assists the suicide or attempted suicide of another person, commits an offence which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
A Bill to legalise assisted suicide was resoundingly defeated in the House of Commons in 2015 by 330 votes to 118.
