ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 18, 1997 TAG: 9702180116
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Helping a person commit suicide would be illegal under legislation endorsed Monday by a House of Delegates committee.
The Courts of Justice Committee sent the bill to the House floor on a voice vote after rejecting a proposal to make the ban apply only to licensed medical professionals.
However, the panel added one significant amendment: a provision requiring the General Assembly to approve the bill again next year before it becomes law. Legislators said they want to see how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on assisted suicide bans in other states.
The bill now goes back to the Senate, which passed it 27-12, for consideration of the re-enactment clause.
Sen. Mark Earley's bill would allow the state attorney general to seek a $10,000 civil penalty against anyone assisting in a suicide. For a second offense, the penalty could be up to $100,000. A medical professional helping with a suicide could lose his or her state medical license for life.
A subcommittee proposed making the bill apply only to medical professionals. But Del. William Mims, R-Loudoun County, offered an amendment to make it apply to any person, not just to people like Dr. Jack Kevorkian of Michigan.
``What Kevorkian does doesn't require a licensed health-care provider,'' Mims told the attorney-dominated panel. ``Even a lawyer could do it.''
Mims' amendment passed 12-8.
The Supreme Court is deciding whether assisted suicide bans in New York and Washington state, similar to those in most states, violate the constitutional ``right to die.'' The court's decision is expected in July.
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB