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Colorado voters could decide fate of 'Right to Die' bill

Posted at 3:37 PM, Jun 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-28 12:21:08-04

Colorado voters could decide in November if terminally-ill patients will be allowed to request life-ending medication.

The ballot initiative is similar to bills that have failed in the state legislature the past two years.

Right now, supporters of the initiative are trying to collect nearly 99,000 signatures on petitions to get the issue before voters in the fall.

Opponents like the Colorado Catholic Conference say the law would violate medical ethics requiring physicians to serve life and never kill and may even pressure some poor and elderly to die.

On this week's Politics Unplugged, former Boulder hospice doctor David Hibbard joined Marshall Zelinger to talk about the initiative and why he supports it.

Dr. Hibbard says that in the nearly two decades that a similar law has been in place on Oregon, it has never been used in questionable circumstances.

He also shared the personal story of a colleague who wanted to take their own life after being diagnosed with ALS.

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Politics Unplugged with Anne Trujillo & Marshall Zelinger airs Sundays at 4pm on Denver7.

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