A legislative panel in the California Assembly approved a bill last week that would allow terminally ill adults to request a lethal dose of drugs, LifeNews reported.
The bill, modeled after Oregon's assisted-suicide law, would require two physicians to declare a patient mentally competent to make the decision.
Bill May, chairman of Catholics for the Common Good, said proponents of the bill are "trying to sell suicide as a medical treatment under the banner of compassion."
"But the bill is, in fact, a malignant attack on the dignity of the person," he said, "especially on the lives of the poor and vulnerable."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has indicated he would veto such legislation.
"I don't think 120 legislators and I should make the decision," he said. "I think the people should make the decision, and whatever that is, that is what it ought to be."
