HARTFORD, Conn. – The Public Health Committee has no plans to vote on controversial legislation allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives before the bill reaches a critical deadline on Friday.
Inaction on the legislation this week will effectively defeat the bill in committee for the second consecutive year.
On Tuesday, supporters were acknowledging the concept was unlikely to pass this year, but said they were happy with the level of attention and debate the bill generated during a short legislative session.
“This is a short session, so I’m not sure if that’s the right thing. Our goal was to make sure that the discussion really increased. I think we exceeded that in a really big way. So I’m pleased,” Rep. Betsy Ritter, a proponent of the bill, said.
Ritter pointed to data from a Quinnipiac University poll conducted this year that suggested 61 percent of the public supported the concept. She said the bill also was the subject of a public hearing again this year, which generated a lot of debate.
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