Edgar Flores (D-Las Vegas) was the sponsor of a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to self-administer life-ending medication. It’s a version of the “Death with Dignity,” and it appears to be at a permanent standstill. There was no consensus on this bill, AB351, and it will not be advancing forward.
In an article originally reported by Tabitha Mueller, Flores is quoted to have said: “I've lost all hope. The position of the leadership is just, we don’t think the votes are there.”
A similar bill was divided among party lines by Republicans and Democrats in 2017, barely passing in the Senate at a vote of 11-10. Democrats mostly supported the measure, but the bill ultimately died in an Assembly committee, never making it to a final round of voting.
Another bill with essentially the same content was also sponsored in by Sen. David Parks (D-Las Vegas) in 2019. It again was supported by many Democrats but did not receive a floor vote, despite passing through committee.
In the original article by Tabitha Mueller, Flores had this quote as well: “It's funny how … there's very contested bills and then one session it just comes in and it goes right through. And I think it's a lot of just that education component, and then kind of holding out, just being consistent.”
The bill is likely to be reborn in a future legislative session. This past April, the latest state to allow a type of “Death with Dignity” law was New Mexico. Opinions are shifting.
“There's an obvious trend where states are recognizing that there's folk who need it, and should have a right to request it if they want it,” Flores said. “So I think we'll come back in two years and do this whole thing again.”