Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Tuesday that he remains conflicted about a controversial proposal to allow physicians to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill, mentally competent patients who request it.

“I still struggle with the issue,” he told reporters. “I think people should be able to give direction with respect to their treatment. This bill in its present form goes substantially beyond that.”

Malloy said he would see what the final bill looks like if it gets to him. Previous proposals during the past two years did not get out of committee. The legislature’s Judiciary Committee is holding a public hearing on this year’s proposal Wednesday.

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Arielle Levin Becker covered health care for The Connecticut Mirror. She previously worked for The Hartford Courant, most recently as its health reporter, and has also covered small towns, courts and education in Connecticut and New Jersey. She was a finalist in 2009 for the prestigious Livingston Award for Young Journalists, a recipient of a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and the third-place winner in 2013 for an in-depth piece on caregivers from the National Association of Health Journalists. She is a 2004 graduate of Yale University.

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