LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s longest-serving lawmaker has adopted a new cause that he plans to pursue every year: allowing adults with terminal illnesses to end their own lives.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha filed a motion Monday to pull his aid-in-dying bill out of a legislative committee where it remains stuck. Nine senators supported the motion while 28 voted against it, but Chambers says he plans to keep pursuing it.

Chambers and other supporters say the measure would ease suffering and allow death with dignity. Some medical groups oppose the bill, saying it would force doctors to make value judgments about the quality of a patient’s life.

Chambers is well-known for his efforts over four decades to abolish the death penalty. Lawmakers repealed it last year.