New Jersey’s medically assisted suicide law takes effect

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey now allows terminally ill patients to seek life-ending drugs.

The law went into effect Thursday.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy had signed the bill in April, making New Jersey the seventh with such a measure. Maine enacted a similar law in June, becoming the eighth.

The Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act in New Jersey allows only patients who are terminally ill and have a prognosis of six months or less to live to acquire medication to end their lives.

Lawmakers tried for years going back to at least 2012 to advance the legislation.

The legislation has several measures that legislators called “safeguards.” They include requiring patients to make two requests and allowing them a chance to rescind the request.