One Year Later: Lessions from Terri Schiavo
One year ago this March a young woman named Terri Schiavo died. What sounds like a peaceful death to many was a long and drawn out ordeal involving Terri's parents and her husband that ultimately led to Congressional and Supreme Court action. In the end Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, won the legal battle for the right to have her wishes respected and a feeding tube removed.
In the wake of this ordeal, many Americans were motivated to write advance directives for health care for themselves and discuss their end-of-life wishes with their loved ones. Equally as motivated by the event, those opposed to withdrawal of hydration and nutrition looked for opportunities ensure that Americans would not be allowed to exercise this right in the future.
23 states are now considering legislation that would roll back rights given to citizens to control their final days through advance directive legislation. We call these bills "health decision restriction bills."
These proposed laws make it:
(1) Difficult to remove a feeding tube from a permanently unconscious patient.
(2) Easy for meddlesome politicians and organizations to tie up a case in court for years.
Health Decision Restriction bills are not the only danger we have to watch out for. We must carefully watch the politcal horizon for "refusal bills", called “conscience bills" by our opponents, which encourage health workers—nurses, pharmacists, etc—to refuse to carry out a medical procedure or fill a prescription on moral grounds.
Compassion & Choices will be there every step of the way to make sure that these bills do not survive. Stay tuned for updates.
Resources
> To read the press release click here (PDF)
> To find out if a health care decision restriction bill or refusal bill has been proposed in your state click here (PDF)
In the Press
> Read the Washington Post article
Take Action
> To take action in Minnesota click here
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