NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An effort by a Nashville lawmaker to grant Tennesseans the “right to die” has failed in the state legislature.
Nashville Democratic Rep. Bob Freeman put forth HB 598 this session, which would create a specific process for an adult with a terminal illness may request medication to facilitate their own death in a “humane and dignified manner.”
According to the text of the bill, an adult who is capable and has been determined by both an attending and a consulting physician to be suffering from an “incurable and irreversible disease” that would result in their death within six months would be able to make an oral and written request for medication “for the purpose of ending [their] life in a humane and dignified manner.”
The bill would have required the person to first make an oral request, followed by a written request. That written request would have to be notarized, and the attending physician and a consulting physician would have to agree that the patient was in the final stages of life. There would also be a psychological evaluation to ensure the patient was making the request willingly and without duress.
Further, the bill would require physicians make sure several things regarding the request, including but not limited to:
- Make the initial determination of whether the patient has a terminal illness, is capable, and has made the request voluntarily
- Ensure the patient is making a fully informed decision
- Refer the patient to a consulting physician for medical confirmation of the diagnosis and that the patient is making the decision voluntarily
- Refer the patient to counseling, if appropriate
- Recommend the patient notify the next of kin
The bill would have granted physicians who take part in the “right to die” provisions immunity from all civil or criminal liabilities related to a good faith compliance with the law.
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During the House Population Health Subcommittee on Tuesday, Freeman said the origins of the bill stem from a friend whose father had repeated battles with brain cancer. The third time he was diagnosed with brain cancer, Freeman said the doctors told the man there really wasn’t anything they could do for him, and he ended up in hospice care with excruciating pain.
“His only solution to end the suffering and the pain was to stop his meds and stop eating,” Freeman said, noting he also had congenital heart failure, and stopping his medications had multiple other side effects. “He was a dear, dear friend, and called me to his bed and said, ‘Please help me do something about this. Please help people that come after have an opportunity to choose dignity in death.'”
According to Freeman, his bill was modeled after other states with similar legislation, and 11 states currently offer medical assistance in death.
“Put yourself in that position. If you are at a point where medicine can no longer heal you, you’re not getting up out of the bed; you’re in horrible pain. Would you not want at least the opportunity to have the conversation about ending your pain?” Freeman said during the committee meeting.
He also acknowledged that the bill dealt with “a tough subject matter that has a lot of nuances to it,” particularly with people having strong beliefs on either side of the issue.
He stressed that the bill was permissive in nature and not requiring any physician take part if they choose not to, especially after receiving resistance from members of the committee. Rep. Sabi Kumar (R-Springfield), himself a longtime physician, said he was concerned that the bill would be taking away choices from people, as well as affirming that doctors are tasked with saving lives, not ending them.
Freeman, however, countered, saying physicians frequently don’t take action to save lives, especially in the case of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders or previously set up advanced directives. In those instances, Freeman said, physicians are bound by their patients’ previous orders, and this bill would be simply a matter of offering terminally ill patients another choice for their own health.
Despite intense debate on the issue, Freeman’s bill ultimately failed 2-8 along party lines, with Reps. Shaundelle Brooks (D-Nashville) and John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) in favor and Reps. Michele Carringer (R-Knoxville), John Gillespie (R-Memphis), Esther Helton-Haynes (R-East Ridge), Kumar, Iris Rudder (R-Winchester), Paul Sherrell (R-Sparta), Brian Terry (R-Murfreesboro), and Ron Travis (R-Dayton) opposed.
