WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a proposed law that would ban federally-licensed doctors from prescribing drugs for assisted suicide.

    The panel voted 10-8 in favor of the bill, with Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, voting with the Republican majority and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, voting against. The bill now moves to the full Senate for consideration. A similar bill passed the House last year.

    The measure is targeted at Oregon's first-in-the-nation law legalizing doctor-assisted suicide by preventing doctors from administering federally-controlled drugs. Instead, the bill promotes better pain management for terminally-ill patients. "In my judgment, terminally ill patients deserve better pain control management because their lives have the same worth and dignity as other human beings," committee chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said.