A terminally ill patient's right to die will be at the center of a legislative showdown on Wednesday.Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear competing bills during an 8 a.m. hearing at the capitol.
State Sen. Anders Blewett, D-Great Falls, has proposed a measure that would put into state law a Montana Supreme Court ruling that supporters say effectively legalized physician-assisted suicide.
The state high court ruled last year in Baxter vs. Montana that a physician who prescribes medications to end life would be protected from prosecution under the state's homicide statute.
Blewett said Senate Bill 167 would implement the court's ruling in state code and protect doctors and patients.
"It would provide immunity for doctors who offer terminally ill patients end-of-life decisions," Blewett said Friday. "It also creates a standard of care and sets forth guidelines for physicians to follow."
The bill, known as the Montana Death with Dignity Act, would require terminally ill patients wishing to receive a prescription for medication to end the patients' life to submit an oral and written request to the patients' attending physician. The request must be witnessed by at least two people who find that patients are competent and acting on their own free will, among other requirements.
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Legislature to Take Up End-of-Life Rights Battle This Week
4 comments:
THE MONTANA DEATH WITH DIGNITY ACT MUST BE STOPPED !
Blewett needs to be REMOVED! from office !
This will eventually lead to innocent people dying at the hands of doctors who have been given a license to murder.
The NATION better rise up against this or there will be lines of innocent victims waiting in death chambers!
I hope this bill doesn't pass.
I agree with you, Jane. While I think people should have the ultimate right to decide their life and their death, there is too much chance for abuse if this passes.
I agree with Jane as well.
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