A suburban Kansas City lawmaker is proposing a measure that would allow terminally ill patients to use medications that haven’t received federal approval.

KAKE-TV reports Shawnee Republican Rep. Brett Hildabrand plans to present the “Right to Try” bill when legislators return to Topeka on Jan. 12.

Hildabrand says the government shouldn’t stand in the way of anything that could potentially extend the lives of people with terminal illnesses.

Five other states – Missouri, Colorado, Michigan, Louisiana and Arizona – already have approved similar legislation.

The initiative is being spearheaded by the Arizona-based nonprofit Goldwater Institute, which says the effort is designed to allow patients access to investigational drugs that have completed basic safety testing.