The state of California now allows assisted suicide for mentally ill patients when they are deemed to be dying but still capable of making medical decisions for themselves.

According to a report by Life Site News, the California Code of Regulations now includes a provision stating that a terminally ill patient "may petition the superior court for access to participate in activities under the End of Life Option Act by requesting release from the custody of the Department of State Hospital from the court."

This newly promulgated regulation further allows the Department of State Hospitals to release the terminally ill patient, who will be given access to assisted suicide, if the court favours the patient's release.

The regulation makes clear that a patient must be terminally ill before the latter is allowed to petition the court to be released from hospital and given access to assisted suicide. A patient who wants to undergo euthanasia but is not deemed terminally ill will not be released from the department's custody.

Furthermore, the new policy also states that once a terminally ill patient has been allowed by a court to be released, the department is also tasked to "facilitate the patient's access to an off-site facility" where the individual can commit assisted suicide.

In the event that the agency cannot find a suitable off-site facility for the euthanasia procedure, the department is also given the responsibility to facilitate the patient's ability to end his or her own life "on-site."

This new rule is expected to stir controversy. Life Site News says the new policy shows California is "abandoning the terminally ill with mental illnesses to their darkest impulses."

Courts in California are also empowered to order the involuntary hospitalisation of a patient for psychiatric reasons, particularly if the patient is deemed as a danger to oneself or others beyond reasonable doubt.