ID governor asks legislature to revisit bill
Bill impacts end-of-life decisions
Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group for "aid in dying" at the end of life, reports that Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, in a letter to the Idaho Senate, encouraged the legislature to revisit a particular bill.
The bill will authorize health care workers to ignore the wishes of terminally ill patients, according to Compassion & Choices.
The group hailed the governor's "concern for honoring decisions within living will and powers of attorney concerning end-of-life treatment." However, the group expressed disappointment that the governor allowed the legislation to become law without signing it.
According to Compassion & Choices, S1353 could "potentially affect end-of-life care by removing the patient's own decision-making and putting the decision in the hands of health care professions, who, based on their own religious or moral beliefs, could choose, or choose not to, follow certain end-of-life directives determined by the patient.
Compassion & Choices President Barbara Coombs Lee said the bill would "protect doctors, nurses, and other health care workers who refuse to treat pain and suffering of a dying patient, if they believe in the redemptive power of suffering."
"If a professional's faith dictates individuals should face death while conscious, they could refuse to provide the treatment known as 'palliative sedation' . . . ," Lee said.
Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group for "aid in dying" at the end of life, reports that Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, in a letter to the Idaho Senate, encouraged the legislature to revisit a particular bill.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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