WSHINGTON, June 10 (Sputnik) — Hooker was testifying in favor of legislation presented that would legalize euthanasia sponsored by State Senator Reginald Tate.
“I believe the right to take your own life with the assistance of a doctor is a fundamental civil right and a basic liberty which the state of Tennessee doesn't have the right take away from you,” attorney John Jay Hooker, who is dying from terminal cancer, told the Tennessee Senate on Tuesday, according to a report from WSMV.com.
Physician-assisted death legislation is on the books in only five of the 50 US states, according to the media.
“I'm here today not in pursuit of justice. I'm here in pursuit of mercy."
The dying attorney has filed a lawsuit to allow what is referred to as “death with dignity,” WSMV.com said.
“I feel I have reached the point I am no longer useful and I am a burden. And I don't feel there is any prohibition in this book that keeps me from doing what I want to do.”
A recent Vanderbilt Poll conducted in Tennessee shows 55 percent of registered voters favored physician-assisted suicide, while 38 percent do not, The Tennessean newspaper reported on Tuesday.
“Lawmakers in 17 [US] states — not including Tennessee — introduced at least 31 bills related to some form of assisted suicide this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures,” the newspaper said.
The California Medical Association recently abandoned its long-held rejection of assisted suicide and adopted a neutral position on the issue. California has the largest population of any US state and is usually regarded as a trendsetter for the rest of the United States.
