. >> reporter: jordan and his mother, laura mcclin have been at the forefront of the movement to pass the right to try bill, which allows the terminally ill who have exhausted all other options to gain access to drugs not fully approved yet by the fda. we first met the mcclin family in 2015, when right to try was signed into law in their home state of indiana by then governor mike pence. >> he has been very, very supportive all along the way. >> reporter: under fda regulations new drugs must go through three phases of clinical trials before becoming commercially available, which often takes years. right to try now allows doctors to administer drugs that have cleared just the first phase of a trial. >> we're going to be saving tremendous numbers of lives. >> reporter: but opponents of right to try argue so-called compassionate use treatments already allow patients to try experimental drugs. the fda currently approves about 99% of experimental drug requests. >> unfortunately, it's empty symbolism. >> reporter: allison bait mon house, an assistant professor of medical ethics, fears the b