‘Medical aid in dying’ bill passes Nevada Assembly despite Lombardo veto threat

An effort to legalize medical aid in dying for terminally ill people has passed a crucial vote Thursday despite Gov. Joe Lombardo’s threat to veto the measure.

Assembly Bill 346 would create a legal framework for competent and willing terminally ill patients to self-administer life-ending medicines. It passed in the Assembly on Thursday, 23-19.

The bill had a nearly two-hour hearing in the Assembly Select Committee on End-of-Life Care on April 2, where the bill sponsor and advocates described the bill’s requirements to test willingness and competency of the individual as well as create legal frameworks for providers, insurers and others.

Some medical providers and patient advocacy groups said they were 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 many right-to-life, disability and spiritual advocates have previously 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. On April 4, Lombardo maintained he would veto the bill again.

“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.

Despite the warning, the Assembly committee held a special vote on the floor last week to make sure AB 346 passed its first deadline of passing out of the committee. The bill still must go through the Senate’s approval before it heads to the governor’s desk.

The deadline for most bills to pass out of their house of origin is Tuesday, April 22.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.