Legislation Co-Sponsored By Assemblyman Joe Danielsen Get Initial Approvals

Two pieces of proposed legislation, co-sponsored by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, made their way out of committees.

Proposed bills co-sponsored by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen that would ban steel animal traps and allow terminally ill people to end their lives were recently approved by Assembly committees.

The bills, A-2451 and ACR-25, now face votes by both houses of the state Legislature.

A-2451, called “The New Jersey Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act” would create a process by which terminally ill patients could request medical assistance to end their lives.

The bill would require terminally ill patients, who have been diagnosed as having six months or less to live, to request a prescription for life-ending drugs in writing, and then re-request the drugs verbally 15 days later, as fellas provide a written request signed by two witnesses.

A doctor would then give the patient the opportunity to rescind the request, and the original doctor would have to re-certify the terminal diagnosis and reaffirm the patient is capable of making the decision.

“This is the humane approach,” Danielsen (D-17) said in a press release about the legislation. “Permitting qualified terminally ill patients to self-administer medication to end their life in a dignified manner is something we should allow.”

Also co-sponoring the measure are Assemblymen John Burzichelli (D-3) and Tim Eustace (D-38).

The second measure co-sponsored by Danielsen would reaffirm a decades-old ban on steel-jaw, leg-hold animal traps.

Under the concurrent resolution – which is adopted by both Houses at the same time – a new rule adopted by the state Fish and Game Council that would allow the use of the steel traps could be invalidated. Once passed by the state Assembly and Senate, the Fish and Game Council and the commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection would have 30 days to amend or withdraw the policy. If no action is taken, the state Legislature could pass another concurrent resolution that would invalidate the regulation.

“The Legislature made its intent very clear several decades ago when it outlawed these types of cruel hunting traps,” Danielsen said in the release. “The vast majority of New Jerseyans frown upon these inhumane tactics and our laws should reflect that.”

Also sponsoring the resolution are state Assemblymen Troy Singleton (D-7), Reed Gusciora (D-15), Daniel Benson (D-14) and Andrew Wicker (D-16).

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