Revision: March 16, 2012, midnight
HB 1216 – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
14Mar2012… 0952h
2012 SESSION
01/05
HOUSE BILL 1216
AN ACT relative to the authority for withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.
SPONSORS: Rep. Itse, Rock 9; Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5
This bill clarifies the protocol of the facility regarding authority for withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from a legally incapacitated person.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14Mar2012… 0952h
12-2028
01/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT relative to the authority for withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Statement of Intent. The intent of this act is to restore protection of the disabled supporting Part 1, Article 2 of the New Hampshire Constitution and the New Hampshire Republican Party Platform, Article VIII.
2 Advance Directives; Withholding or Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatment. Amend RSA 137-J:10, IV(b) to read as follows:
(b) The withholding or withdrawing of medically administered nutrition and hydration or life-sustaining treatment from a [mentally incompetent or developmentally disabled] legally incapacitated person, unless such person has a validly executed advance directive or such action is authorized by an existing guardianship or other court order[, or such action is taken in accordance with the facility’s standard protocol as applicable to its general patient population] instructing otherwise, or unless such nutrition and hydration or life-sustaining treatment would be physically harmful or would hasten death.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.