Nevada governor says he will veto medical aid in dying bill
A bill to legalize access to life-ending medication for terminally ill patients may be doomed in the Nevada Legislature after Gov. Joe Lombardo said Friday he would not sign the policy.
Also called ‘medical aid in dying,’ Assembly Bill 346 would allow certain providers to prescribe life-ending medication to competent and willing terminally ill patients, detailing the request eligibilities and requirements from pharmacists and providers.
The bill had a roughly two-hour hearing in the Assembly Select Committee on End-of-Life Care on Wednesday, with some medical providers and patient advocacy groups in support of allowing a person with six months or less to live, verified by two practitioners, a way to end their own life. But opponents — largely made up of right-to-life, disability and spiritual advocates — said the bill should have more safeguards and that the government should focus on improving hospice care.
A similar proposal in the 2023 session passed through the Legislature with bipartisan support and made it to the governor’s desk, but he vetoed it. His statement on X echoed the veto message from that June.
“Expansions in palliative care services and continued improvements in advanced pain management make the end-of-life provisions in AB346 unnecessary, and I would encourage the 2025 Legislature to disregard AB346 because I will not sign it,” Lombardo said in the statement.
Bill sponsors Assembly members Joe Dalia, D-Henderson, and Danielle Gallant, R-Las Vegas, did not immediately return requests for comment Friday.
Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.
