Right to Die Bill

[Ebowed]

Right to Die Bill

Section 1: Application
1. This law shall apply only in federal territories and the District of Columbia.

Section 2: The Right to Die
1. The Right to a dignified death when blighted with a terminal illness and great suffering is hereby granted to all those mentally sane residents of the applicable areas as specified in Section 1.
2. If a person shall opt to invoke this Right, they may seek assistance from medical practitioners to grant them a dignified death.
3. In order to invoke this Right, the person must sign a notice containing their wishes and must have the same signed by a public notary.
4. This notice, along with the relevant certifications as specified by Section 4, must be lodged with the federal Courts of Law to have effect, and such notice shall take effect seven days after it is lodged with the Courts.
5. The method of assisting a person to a dignified death is left at the discretion of the person concerned after consultation with a medical practitioner, and may include a medical practitioner administering a lethal dose of a controlled substance to the person.

Section 3: Living Wills
1. All mentally sane residents of the Southeast shall have the right to provide instructions for the event that they are blighted with a terminal illness and incapacitated from communicating their wishes.
2. These may include instructions for the ending of their life through withdrawal of treatment or direct action.
3. In order to provide these instructions, a person must sign a notice stating such instructions, and must have the same signed by a public notary.
4. This notice must be lodged with the federal Courts of Law to have effect.
5. A living will may only be acted if authorization to is received from a federal Court of Law, which shall only issue such an order if they receive all certifications as specified in Section 4.

Section 4: Medical Determinations
1. A person shall be deemed to be blighted with a terminal illness if two certified medical practitioners certify the same in writing. At least one of these practitioners shall be a specialist in the field of medicine that relates to the illness suffered from by the person concerned.
2. A person shall be deemed to be in great suffering if two certified medical practitioners certify that in their medical judgement the person is in such distress that their quality of life is reduced and that there is no further medical assistance that can be given to substantially improve their quality of life.
3. A person shall be deemed to be mentally sane if a certified medical practitioner with specialism in psychiatry shall certify the same in writing.
4. A person shall be deemed to be incapacitated from communicating their wishes if three certified medical practitioners shall certify the same in writing.
5. None of those performing certification pursuant to this Section may benefit directly or indirectly from the death of the person concerned, except as may occur through the payment for provision of services.

Section 5: Prosecutions
1. No medical practitioner acting to assist the person to a dignified death shall be prosecutable unless they have in some way deviated from or ignored the procedures outlined in this statute.
2. If a medical practitioner shall deviate from the procedure in this statute, then they shall be liable to have their medical license revoked and may be subject to prosecution in the Courts, punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.
3. If a medical practitioner shall unduly encourage to invoke their rights as outlined in Section 2 or Section 3 and shall assist in executing these rights, or shall engage in direct action to hasten death without consent, then they shall be guilty of murder.


Sponsor: The President pro tempore

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

A technical amendment:

In Section 3 Clause 1, replace "the Southeast" with "federal territories and the District of Columbia".

[Јas]

A technical amendment:

In Section 3 Clause 1, replace "the Southeast" with "federal territories and the District of Columbia".

Pfft, why not impose laws on the Southeast and see how they react?

[Ebowed]

Voting to amend Section 3 Clause 1 to replace "the Southeast" with "federal territories and the District of Columbia".

---

Aye

[Јas]

Aye

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Aye

[Colin]

Aye

A technical amendment:

In Section 3 Clause 1, replace "the Southeast" with "federal territories and the District of Columbia".

Pfft, why not impose laws on the Southeast and see how they react?

Sounds good to me, damn perfidious Southrons.

[minionofmidas]

Aye.

[Ebowed]

The amendment passes.

Right to Die Bill

Section 1: Application
1. This law shall apply only in federal territories and the District of Columbia.

Section 2: The Right to Die
1. The Right to a dignified death when blighted with a terminal illness and great suffering is hereby granted to all those mentally sane residents of the applicable areas as specified in Section 1.
2. If a person shall opt to invoke this Right, they may seek assistance from medical practitioners to grant them a dignified death.
3. In order to invoke this Right, the person must sign a notice containing their wishes and must have the same signed by a public notary.
4. This notice, along with the relevant certifications as specified by Section 4, must be lodged with the federal Courts of Law to have effect, and such notice shall take effect seven days after it is lodged with the Courts.
5. The method of assisting a person to a dignified death is left at the discretion of the person concerned after consultation with a medical practitioner, and may include a medical practitioner administering a lethal dose of a controlled substance to the person.

Section 3: Living Wills
1. All mentally sane residents of federal territories and the District of Columbia shall have the right to provide instructions for the event that they are blighted with a terminal illness and incapacitated from communicating their wishes.
2. These may include instructions for the ending of their life through withdrawal of treatment or direct action.
3. In order to provide these instructions, a person must sign a notice stating such instructions, and must have the same signed by a public notary.
4. This notice must be lodged with the federal Courts of Law to have effect.
5. A living will may only be acted if authorization to is received from a federal Court of Law, which shall only issue such an order if they receive all certifications as specified in Section 4.

Section 4: Medical Determinations
1. A person shall be deemed to be blighted with a terminal illness if two certified medical practitioners certify the same in writing. At least one of these practitioners shall be a specialist in the field of medicine that relates to the illness suffered from by the person concerned.
2. A person shall be deemed to be in great suffering if two certified medical practitioners certify that in their medical judgement the person is in such distress that their quality of life is reduced and that there is no further medical assistance that can be given to substantially improve their quality of life.
3. A person shall be deemed to be mentally sane if a certified medical practitioner with specialism in psychiatry shall certify the same in writing.
4. A person shall be deemed to be incapacitated from communicating their wishes if three certified medical practitioners shall certify the same in writing.
5. None of those performing certification pursuant to this Section may benefit directly or indirectly from the death of the person concerned, except as may occur through the payment for provision of services.

Section 5: Prosecutions
1. No medical practitioner acting to assist the person to a dignified death shall be prosecutable unless they have in some way deviated from or ignored the procedures outlined in this statute.
2. If a medical practitioner shall deviate from the procedure in this statute, then they shall be liable to have their medical license revoked and may be subject to prosecution in the Courts, punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.
3. If a medical practitioner shall unduly encourage to invoke their rights as outlined in Section 2 or Section 3 and shall assist in executing these rights, or shall engage in direct action to hasten death without consent, then they shall be guilty of murder.

---

We are now voting on final passage.

---

Aye

[Colin]

Aye

[Brandon H]

Nay

[DownWithTheLeft]

Nay

[Rob]

Aye.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Nay, this issue should be left to the individual territory in question to decide as it sees fit.  If there were no question of whether home rule would prevail on this issue, I'd have voted aye, but there is, so I repeat, my vote is nay.

[Colin]

Nay, this issue should be left to the individual territory in question to decide as it sees fit.  If there were no question of whether home rule would prevail on this issue, I'd have voted aye, but there is, so I repeat, my vote is nay.

That was my major concern but we have a precedent of imposing rulings upon the territories, which do not have governments that I know of run by actual voting Atlasians. While we can consider that they have some sort of shadow government I still think it is easier for the Senate to fulfill this role. Also I've always wondered about the status of DC in these bills. It is part of the Mideast and is counted as such for elections therefore it follows, in my mind, that we should let DC be governed by the same laws as the rest of the region.

[Јas]

Aye

[minionofmidas]

I used to support physician-assisted suicide... after some of the stories I hear from countries where it's now legal, I don't anymore. Too much danger of old folks essentially being pressured by relatives into agreeing to die now rather than four expensively cared-for years on.

Nay.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Nay

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Abstain

[Ebowed]

The bill has enough votes to fail.  Senators have 24 hours to change their votes.

[Ebowed]

With 4 ayes, 5 nays, and 1 abstention, the bill has failed.