Ill Californians may take life-ending drugs starting in June

State lawmakers adjourned a special session on health care Thursday, starting the 90-day countdown to physician-assisted suicide.

Marilyn Golden, a senior policy analyst with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, said the law doesn't go far enough to protect people from being coerced into a premature suicide by an abusive caregiver or heir.

"Quality palliative case, spiritual and emotional support and a respect for our human dignity are the compassionate response — not a lethal dose of drugs from a physician," Executive Director Edward "Ned" Dolejsi said in a statement.

Religious institutions, like Catholic hospitals, can opt out and ban their doctors from participating in any assisted deaths.