The D.C. Council voted 11-2 in favor of advancing a bill that will give doctors the ability to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients, DCist reported Tuesday.

Oregon and California have passed similar laws that allow patients with less than six months to live to elect to take life-ending drugs. The bill outlines provisions against abusing the power by requiring two non-relative witnesses who can vouch that a patient’s decision is voluntary.

The bill will have to pass a second reading before making it to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s desk to sign it into law, according to DCist. Bowser has not yet taken a public stance on the bill.

The bill has been a topic of controversy within the Council since Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh introduced it last January. Cheh said she expected contention between some Council members, based on religious and moral beliefs.

“But there is latitude to recognize that all life is valuable while also respecting the rights and decisions of others,” Cheh said at the time.

Organizations like No D.C. Suicide have opposed the bill for religious reasons. But advocates for right-to-die legislation say that a bill like this will provide “dignity and a release from pain,” according to DCist.

The Council also unanimously passed the final reading of the Automatic Voter Registration Amendment Act, which will automatically register D.C. residents to vote or allow them to change their party affiliations when they obtain their IDs at the Department of Motor Vehicles.