The following comes from Bishop Soto’s physician assisted suicide statement and the Diocese of Sacramento website:

In a January 8 letter to the faithful of the Diocese of Sacramento, Bishop Jaime Soto, who is also president of the California Catholic Conference, thanked his co-workers in Christ for their recent efforts to overturn the physician-assisted suicide law (ABx2-15), passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last fall. The bishop encourages Catholics to support other worthwhile initiatives currently in circulation, including those addressing parental notification for abortion and repeal of the death penalty in the state.

Bishop Soto, in reference to parental notification and death penalty initiatives, urged Catholics to study these issues further “with the heart and mind of Christ,” and to join in the statewide efforts to put these initiatives on the November ballot.

He noted that further signature gathering will not be done in the parishes of the diocese. “I made a rare exception for the physician-assisted suicide signature gathering effort. As faithful citizens, let us go out from the parishes into our communities and neighborhoods to ask for support. I encourage all Catholics to get engaged in these worthwhile civic endeavors.”