Stephen Hawking Says He Would Consider Assisted Suicide If He Was In Great Pain

(CBS SF) -- Professor Stephen Hawking said he would consider assisted suicide under certain circumstances.

The Telegraph published some of his quotes from a BBC interview set to air June 15. The 73-year-old physicist allegedly talks about his loneliness and difficulty he has connecting with others.

"At times I get very lonely because people are afraid to talk to me or don't wait for me to write a response," he said.

He also brought up the subject death. "I would consider assisted suicide only if I were in great pain or felt I had nothing more to contribute but was just a burden to those around me," he said."To keep someone alive against their wishes is the ultimate indignity."

In California, some terminally ill patients and their advocates are pushing for SB 128 which would allow people to have the option of medical aid in dying.

The bill is modeled after Oregon's death-with-dignity law brought on by Brittany Maynard's family, who moved from their Bay Area home so Maynard could live her final days in Oregon with a doctor's prescription to end her life on her own terms.

A recent poll shows that California voters support the medical option of aid in dying by more than a 2-1 margin (64 percent vs. 24 percent).

The deadline to pass the End of Life Option Act in the Senate is June 5.