Report Title:

Constitutional Amendment Relating to Death with Dignity

Description:

Provides for the administration of death with dignity to persons who request it and are suffering from a terminal condition. (Con Am HB2491 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2491

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

PROPOSING A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT RELATING TO DEATH WITH DIGNITY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, to allow terminally ill people to request a prescription for lethal drugs and to request in advance the administration of death with dignity in the event of their suffering from a terminal illness.

The legislature finds that people are now enjoying longer, healthier lives than at any other time in history. Diseases that kill suddenly and prematurely have been virtually wiped out in developed countries. Ninety per cent of the people who die each year are victims of prolonged illnesses or have experienced a predictable and steady decline. In May of 1998, the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Living and Dying with Dignity concluded that "Our respect for individuals' rights of self-determination brings us to the view that requests for assistance in dying should be taken seriously. We have concluded that individuals who have no compunction regarding physician-assisted dying should be allowed to follow the dictates of their own conscience." People with terminal illnesses need to have options when reviewing end of life choices. This Act would allow terminally ill people to determine the time and place of their death.

SECTION 2. Article I of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended by adding a new section to be designated and to read as follows:

"DEATH WITH DIGNITY

Section 24. The legislature shall have the power to allow terminally ill adult patients to obtain physicians' prescriptions for drugs to end life."

SECTION 3. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to establish the right that will allow terminally ill adult patients to make a voluntary, informed choice to obtain a physician's prescription for drugs to end life?"

SECTION 4. New constitutional material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.