Study: In Most States, Physicians Not Obliged to Obey Advance Directives
by Mary Rettig
April 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - The legislative counsel for the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics, an arm of the National Right to Life Committee, says most states don't require doctors to honor patients' advance directives.Last week, the Powell Center held a press conference to release their findings in light of the recent controversy over Terri Schiavo. Dorothy Timbs says although people should make their end-of-life wishes known through advance medical directives, the Center's report -- "Will Your Advance Directive Be Honored" [PDF] -- found that doctors in many states are not obligated to follow them.
"We found that 25 states and territories do not require food, fluids, or life-preserving medical treatment pending transfer. [And] 16 states have laws that are questionable," Timbs adds. "In other words, there's language that could be used to support a right to life-preserving measures pending transfer -- but either the language is ambiguous, or other language could trump it."
According to Timbs, about four-fifths of the nation's states do not have clear laws protecting a person's right to choose food, fluids, or life-preserving treatment.
"In other words, [if] the physician or healthcare provider who's treating you [decides] that your quality of life is too low, when it goes to an ethics committee, that committee has the authority to override your wishes as they are expressed in writing," she explains.
Timbs says National Right to Life is urging individuals to fill out a pro-life advance directive, and then check their state's laws to determine if the directive will be followed. If the law gives the treating physician the prerogative, she says people need to lobby for legislative change so doctors and hospitals will honor choices for life -- just as they observe choices to stop life-preserving treatment.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
