Patient Access to End of Life Care Act

Bill: 118-hr-8137
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Pettersen, Brittany [D-CO-7]
Introduced: 2024-04-26
Policy area: Health
Latest action: action_date: 2024-12-17
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8137 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 26, 2024 Ms. Pettersen (for herself and Mr. Peters ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce , and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means , the Judiciary , Education and the Workforce , Oversight and Accountability , Natural Resources , and Foreign Affairs , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for an exception to the restrictions described in the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 with respect to certain States.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Patient Access to End of Life Care Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Medical aid-in-dying is a medical practice in which a mentally capable, terminally ill adult with less than six months to live requests a prescription from their qualified clinician for medication to bring about a peaceful death to ingest at any point if their suffering becomes unbearable. (2) Medical aid-in-dying, an authorized medical practice, is not euthanasia, mercy killing, or assisted suicide. (3) Oregon was the first jurisdiction to authorize medical aid-in-dying through a 1994 ballot initiative. Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act was officially implemented in 1997. (4) Subsequently, Congress passed the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 which, as Federal lawmakers interpret it, prevents any Federal money from being used to help terminally ill patients who want medical aid-in-dying, such as veterans and other vulnerable populations. (5) Since then, 11 jurisdictions have adopted medical aid-in-dying laws: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Montana (via a State Supreme Court ruling), New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington (1 in 5 residents of the United States). 3. Exception to restrictions described in the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 Beginning January 1, 2025, in the case of a State that permits medical aid-in-dying programs (in accordance with the laws of such State), the restrictions described in the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 ( Public Law 105–12 ) shall not apply to any information, referrals, guidance, or medical care provided consistent with such programs.