A bill that would make California only the second U.S. state to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives passed an initial legislative hurdle on Tuesday.

In a 5-3 vote, the California Assembly’s judiciary committee passed the California Compassionate Choices Act, legislation modeled on a pioneering law in neighboring Oregon.

The bill allows California residents with less than six months to live to obtain lethal medication - after an initial oral request, a second written request, and then a third oral request over a span of 15 days.

The bill even provides sample language for the patient seeking to proceed with suicide: “I request that my attending physician prescribe medication that will end my life in a humane and dignified manner.”

Since Oregon enacted its suicide law in 1997, more than 170 terminally ill people have ended their lives. The Supreme Court is reviewing whether the Bush administration can stop Oregon doctors from assisting with the suicides.

The California bill - which requires that the terminally ill must be conscious and competent to make the decision themselves - needs approval by the full legislature and the signature of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before becoming law.

“The seven years of data in Oregon and the recent attention focused on all of these issues by the Terri Schiavo case, while not directly related to this, will definitely help our chances of getting this through the legislature this year,” said bill co-author Lloyd Levine, a Democratic assemblyman.

Among those who oppose the suicide bill are the California Medical Association, some groups that deal with disabilities and the California Catholic Conference.

The legislation “puts physicians in a position where they would be acting not in their patients’ best interests,” said Michael Sexton, an emergency room physician in Marin County and president of the California Medical Association.

“We feel that pursuing appropriate end-of-life care and making sure patients have access in coverage for hospice is the right solution.”