Idaho SB 1114 Futile Care Theory Authorization Bill Is Apparently Dead for This Year

Great news from a behind the scenes source: I have just been told that SB 1114, the bill that would have explicitly legalized futile care theory in Idaho, has died for the year. It almost snuck by, but when opponents learned about it, they mounted an 11th hour campaign to prevent passage. That campaign seems to have succeeded.

More details when I know more, but I have this on very good and trustworthy authority. It’s a shame that some good things got delayed, but we cannot permit “optional” bioethics committees to force people off of wanted life-sustaining treatment—indeed, overturn explicit written instructions by the patient in an advance directive—based on the institutional culture or the committee’s or physician’s values.

I am told conversations will continue to make the bill acceptable. That’s fine with me. But in the meantime: Huzzah!