Indiana 2024 Regular Session

Indiana House Bill HCR0019 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	HC1019
2	2	Introduced Version
3	3	HOUSE CONCURRENT
4	4	RESOLUTION No. ____
5	5	DIGEST OF INTRODUCED RESOL UTION
6	6	A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION opposing assisted
7	7	medical suicide.
8	8	Ledbetter, Genda, Aylesworth,
9	9	Barrett, Carbaugh, Cash, Greene,
10	10	Heaton, Lauer, McGuire, Morris,
11	11	Patterson, Snow, Sweet, Teshka
12	12	_______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on
13	13	20242230
14	14	2024 HC 1019/DI 140 Introduced
15	15	Second Regular Session of the 123rd General Assembly (2024)
16	16	HOUSE CONCURRENT
17	17	RESOLUTION No. ____
18	18	1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION opposing assisted
19	19	2 medical suicide.
20	20	3 Whereas, Indiana has an unqualified interest in the
21	21	4 preservation of human life, and the state's prohibition on
22	22	5 assisted suicide, like all homicide laws, both reflects and
23	23	6 advances its commitment to this;
24	24	7 Whereas, Neither the Constitution of the State of Indiana nor
25	25	8 the Constitution of the United States contains a right to assisted
26	26	9 suicide and, thus, no individual has the right to authorize
27	27	10 another to kill him or her in violation of federal and state
28	28	11 criminal laws;
29	29	12 Whereas, Suicide is not a typical reaction to an acute problem
30	30	13 or life circumstance, and many individuals who contemplate
31	31	14 suicide, including the terminally ill, suffer from treatable
32	32	15 mental disorders, most commonly clinical depression, which
33	33	16 frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated by health care
34	34	17 providers;
35	35	18 Whereas, In Oregon, 46 percent of patients seeking assisted
36	36	19 suicide changed their minds when their health care providers
37	37	20 intervened and appropriately addressed suicidal ideations by
38	38	21 treating their pain, depression, and/or other medical problems;
39	39	22 Whereas, Palliative care continues to improve and is nearly
40	40	23 always successful in relieving pain and allowing a person to die
41	41	24 naturally, comfortably, and in a dignified manner without a
42	42	25 change in the law;
43	43	2024 HC 1019/DI 140 2
44	44	1 Whereas, The experiences in Oregon and the Netherlands
45	45	2 explicitly demonstrate that palliative care options deteriorate
46	46	3 with the legalization of assisted medical suicide;
47	47	4 Whereas, Indiana rejects abuses of palliative care through
48	48	5 futility care protocols as well as the use of terminal sedation
49	49	6 without life-sustaining care as seen in the Liverpool Care
50	50	7 Pathway;
51	51	8 Whereas, A health care provider's recommendation for
52	52	9 assisted medical suicide relies on the health care provider's
53	53	10 judgment, which can include prejudices and negative
54	54	11 perceptions, that a patient's life is not worth living, ultimately
55	55	12 contributing to the use of futility care protocols and
56	56	13 euthanasia;
57	57	14 Whereas, Indiana rejects the sliding-scale approach, which
58	58	15 asserts certain qualities of life are not worthy of equal legal
59	59	16 protections;
60	60	17 Whereas, The legalization of assisted medical suicide sends
61	61	18 a message that suicide is a socially acceptable response to
62	62	19 aging, terminal illnesses, disabilities, and depression and
63	63	20 subsequently imposes a duty to die;
64	64	21 Whereas, The medical profession as a whole opposes assisted
65	65	22 medical suicide because it is contrary to the medical
66	66	23 profession's role as healer and undermines the patient-provider
67	67	24 relationship;
68	68	25 Whereas, Assisted suicide is significantly less expensive than
69	69	26 other care options, and Oregon's experience demonstrates that
70	70	27 cost constraints can create financial incentives to limit care and
71	71	28 offer assisted medical suicide;
72	72	29 Whereas, As evidenced in Oregon, the private nature of
73	73	30 end-of-life decisions makes it virtually impossible to police a
74	74	31 health care provider's behavior to prevent abuses, making any
75	75	32 number of safeguards insufficient; and
76	76	33 Whereas, A prohibition on assisted suicide, specifically
77	77	34 assisted medical suicide, is the only way to protect vulnerable
78	78	35 citizens from coerced suicide and euthanasia: Therefore,
79	79	2024 HC 1019/DI 140 3
80	80	1 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives
81	81	2 of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana,
82	82	3 the Senate concurring:
83	83	4 SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly
84	84	5 opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide because the
85	85	6 Indiana General Assembly has an unqualified interest in the
86	86	7 preservation of human life.
87	87	8 SECTION 2. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly
88	88	9 opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide because
89	89	10 anything less than a prohibition leads to foreseeable abuses and
90	90	11 eventually to euthanasia by devaluing human life, particularly
91	91	12 the lives of the terminally ill, elderly, disabled, and depressed
92	92	13 whose lives are of no less value or quality than any other citizen
93	93	14 of this state.
94	94	15 SECTION 3. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly
95	95	16 opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide even for
96	96	17 terminally ill, mentally competent adults because assisted
97	97	18 suicide undermines efforts to prevent the self-destructive act of
98	98	19 suicide and hinders progress in effective health care provider
99	99	20 interventions, including diagnosing and treating depression,
100	100	21 managing pain, and providing palliative and hospice care.
101	101	22 SECTION 4. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly
102	102	23 opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide because
103	103	24 assisted suicide undermines the integrity and ethics of the
104	104	25 medical profession, subverts a health care provider's role as
105	105	26 healer, and compromises the patient-provider relationship. For
106	106	27 these reasons and others, the medical community summarily
107	107	28 rejects it.
108	108	29 SECTION 5. That the Principal Clerk of the House of
109	109	30 Representatives shall transmit copies of this resolution to the
110	110	31 Governor, the Indiana Department of Health, the Indiana
111	111	32 Medical Association, and the Indiana Department of Nursing.
112	112	2024 HC 1019/DI 140