Rogers/ 4 Senator Ma.

Ducey

S. B___

A BILL
To create a federal right to die law.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Humane and Dignified Death Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) People who are terminally ill, have the right to do whatever they would like with their life, as long as
they do not do any harm to other people.
2) All systems that allow physician assistance in dying have also in some way included the notion that
physician assistance in dying is only accepted when it is the only means to address severe suffering from an
incurable medical condition.
3) Requests to end suffering by means of death through both physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia
have occurred since the beginning of medicine.
4) Proponents of assisted suicide generally address the individual patient's right to be free of suffering and
to exercise control over the circumstances of dying.
5) Suffering means more than pain; there are other physical, existential, social and psychological burdens
such as the loss of independence, loss of sense of self, and functional capacities that some patients feel
jeopardize their dignity.
6) The ultimate decision in treating hopelessly ill people should ideally rest with both the patients or their
families(if they are unable to speak for themselves) and the physician handling the case.
7) Studies in countries where physician assistance in dying is regulated suggest that practices have
remained rather stable in most jurisdictions and that physicians adhere to the legal criteria in the vast
majority of cases.
8) When such people beg for a merciful end to their pain and indignity, it is cruel and inhumane to refuse
their pleas; Compassion demands that we comply and cooperate.
9) Physicians and patients are protected from criminal prosecution, and the choice of legal
physician-assisted suicide cannot affect the status of a patient's health or life insurance policy.
10) ...there are many who want to die, but whose disease, handicap, or condition renders them unable to
end their lives in a dignified manner.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The Humane and Dignified Death Act of 2016 shall allow all terminally ill patients in the United States,
the option to end their life. All patients that choose to end their life under this Act, shall be protected from
criminal prosecution. No physician that aids in ending a terminally ill patient's life, shall be prosecuted.
The choice to die under the Humane and Dignified Death Act of 2016, shall not affect the patient's health
status. The patient and his/her families life insurance policy, shall not be affected if the patient chooses to
end their life. Assisted Suicide is defined as ...the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease,
affected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose. Only certified physicians shall
be allowed to perform this. All acts that involve assisted suicide shall be reported. All patients shall need
two physician approvals to end their life.
B) The Humane and Dignified Death Act of 2016 shall be funded by the medical insurance that the patient
has. All medical insurance companies shall cover the cost of a patient choosing to die under the Humane
and Dignified Death Act of 2016.
C) If requirements are not met and are violated the patient or physician shall be prosecuted. The Humane
and Dignified Death Act of 2016 shall be enacted on January 1, 2018 and there is no expiration date.

The idea of Assisted Suicide(AS), has been a well debated topic all over the world. This starts with whether or not a terminally ill
patient has the right to die with the help of a physician. Some say it is cruel to allow a patient to be in pain and suffer for the rest of
their life. Others say it is morally wrong to end the life of someone. People for AS, believe that it is a way to end the suffering of a
terminally ill patient painlessly. People against AS, claim that physicians are killing or murdering, their patients. People that
argue against Assisted Suicide say it is against a physicians moral standards to do no harm. Doctors and other medical personnel
are supposed to help and heal people, not kill them. However, how could a physician deny a patients wish to end their painful life?
The Humane and Dignified Death Act of 2016 should be passed because it is inhumane to make a person suffer in pain, a patient
reserves the right to end their life in a dignified way and the patient deserves the right to alleviate the medical costs on the family.
Making a terminally ill patient live out the rest of their life suffering is heartless and inhumane. Patients are sometimes given years,
months or just days to live. But if they decide that it is too hard for them, too painful, then they should have to choice to end their
life. Suffering has always been a part of human existence. Requests to end suffering by means of death through both
physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia have occurred since the beginning of medicine. It is cruel to ignore the last wish of a
dying patient. Medical technology advances and medications have made it easier and possible to prolong the death of someone.
Machines are just prolonging their death and making the suffering of terminally ill patients worse. Patients endure constant pricking
and prodding to keep them alive. How long will they have to withstand that until it is time to die? Dr. Scott Weiss of Bostons Beth
Israel Hospital has described sticking needles in and thumping on the chest of a terminally ill patient about to die, as a violent
and brutal way to depart this world. It is cruel and inhumane to put a person through something like that. Patients deserve the right
opt out of any treatment that may prolong their life and choose to end their life if they want to. Medications, such as morphine may
ease their pain. But it will never allow them to return to the person they once were. While many are profoundly opposed to the
concept of assisted death, there are a growing number who have come to believe that, for some patients whose pain and suffering
cannot be controlled, hastening their dying is the most inhumane form of treatment their profession can offer. For a terminally ill
patient whose pain cannot be controlled, an option that should be available to everyone is Assisted Suicide. All physicians should
give this choice to their patients, as long as they are terminally ill. This gives them a painless way to end their life of suffering in a
dignified way. Not only is AS a way of ending a patients misery, it is also to allow them to die in a dignified manner. Pain and
suffering are not the only burdens that accompany the effects of a terminal illness: Suffering means more than pain; there are other
physical, existential, social and psychological burdens such as the loss of independence, loss of sense of self, and functional
capacities that some patients feel jeopardize their dignity. It is not always possible to relieve suffering.Thus Physician Assisted
Death may be a compassionate response to unremitting suffering. A patient who is dealing with a terminal illness, will never be be
the same person they were, before they got sick. Those people should be able to make one final decision on their own fate. People
who are terminally ill, have the right to do whatever they would like with their life, as long as they do not do any harm to other
people. As long as the patients decision does not harm anyone else, then they should be able to make the choice to end their life. A
terminally sick patient should be allowed to die with dignity, in a painless way. Not only should a terminally ill patient be able to
choose to die, because they are in pain, they should also be able to choose in order to stop any financial burdens of medical costs on
the family. Terminal illness affects not only the patient but also his/her entire family. Sometimes families are not able to pay all of
the medical bills that come with dealing with a terminal illness. In 1993, Dr. Dworkin said: The cost of maintaining...has been
estimated as ranging from about two thousand to ten thousand dollars a month.. If families payed that much in medical costs in the
90s, could you imagine how much it would cost now? In the wake of trying to mourn their lost family member, they have to worry
about how they will pay for all the bills. Author of Lifes Dominion, says that many people... want to save their relatives the
expense of keeping them pointlessly alive... Terminally ill patients do not want to leave a stack of bills for their family when they
are gone. Not only could the family save by not using medical resources or procedures, but those resources could be used on other
patients: In the current era of cost-containment, it is, therefore, not surprising that the high cost of dying has led some people to
question whether resources are being wasted on the dying (especially if the latter are very elderly) and could (or should) be more
productively allocated to other patients... These resources are being used to prolong the death of the terminally ill patient. If they
chose to not prolong their life, then it could cut his/her medical costs drastically and ultimately allow those resources to go to other
patients, that actually need it. The Humane and Dignified Death Act of 2016 should be passed because it is cruel to make someone
suffer, a terminally ill patient should be able to choose to die with dignity, and take away the burdens of medical costs on their
family. This Bill should be passed and become a Federal law because it will allow terminally ill patients to die with dignity and end
their painful suffering. This Act would allow all terminally ill patients, the option to end their suffering and to die the way that they
choose.