ACLU of New Mexico Defends Patient’s End-of-Life Wishes
From an ACLU-New Mexico Press Release:
TheAmerican Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico announced today that ithas sued the New Mexico Orthopaedic Surgery Center for requiring apatient to abandon his living will prior to receiving medical care,which the ACLU said violates the New Mexico Uniform Health-CareDecisions Act.
“Whether to be keptalive or to be allowed to die is perhaps the most private of decisionsthat any person can face,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive DirectorPeter Simonson. “Now a Texas-based company is claiming that power foritself. Patients should be in control of how they end their lives, notsome insurance lawyer in Dallas.”
Atissue is a requirement by the surgery center that all patients sign amedical procedures consent form acknowledging that the center will “nothonor a request for ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ status and/or AdvanceDirectives or Living Wills.”
The ACLUsaid that this practice violates the New Mexico Uniform Health-CareDecisions Act, which gives adults and emancipated minors the power tomake advance health care directives. Lawyers for the surgery centerclaim that the center’s refusal to honor advance directives isallowable under the law’s “reason of conscience” exemption. However,Simonson dismissed that argument as a “diversionary tactic.”
“Theyhaven’t produced any policy or mission statement demonstrating that acommitment to religious ideals informs their refusal to honor livingwills,” Simonson said. “If the center really had a reason based infaith, why would they reject all advance directives, even those thatwould require doctors to try to prolong life?”