The law is similar to Washington's Proposition 119, but it contains significant additional safeguards. The law provides a choice to people with terminal diseases that do not have treatment that can be withheld or refused, as allowed under current law. It provides a choice without imposing a form of dying on those who find the suffering of death ennobling, those who are opposed on religious or moral principles, or those who choose to live their lives out to the very end. Thus, it is an insurance policy against unwanted suffering and loss of dignity at life's end. In addition, it would be limited to a relatively small number of cases, because it is narrower than the practice in Holland and also would not protect Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who assisted the suicide of people who were not terminally ill. The endless trivial objections raised to the law come from groups that do not want California's citizens to have a choice. Footnotes