Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Pro-Life Bill to Stop Starving Patients to Death

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 12, 2015   |   4:15PM   |   Austin, TX

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is pro-life, has signed a pro-life bill into law that would protect patients from being starved to death. Abbott signed House Bill 3074,  legislation to end the forced withdrawal of feeding tubes by medical facilities. The measure to stop involuntary euthanasia by dehydration received strong support from groups like Texas Right to Life.

The pro-life group provided LifeNews this information about the bill:

HB 3074 will limit the withdrawal of food and water, called “artificially administered food and water” or “AANH” in the bill, from hospitalized patients. The originally filed version of the bill included some broadly drafted exceptions that would have enshrined quality of life value ethics into law, but the subjectivity of those loopholes has been removed.

As revised, HB 3074 marks a first positive step in what remains a long journey of reforming the Texas Advance Directives Act. This was no easy task for Representative Springer, because he was under pressure to push his bill with or without Texas Right to Life’s support.

The Texas Advance Directives Act, found in Chapter 166 of our Health and Safety Code, allows a hospital committee or physician to withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment, including food and water, from a patient after providing only ten days notice, despite the patient’s advance directive or expressed medical decisions. Such withdrawal of treatment can and has sped the death of some patients victimized by this draconian statutory process and is protected with complete legal immunity.

While Texas Right to Life will continue to pursue patient protections and larger reforms to the Texas Advance Directives Act, limiting the circumstances in which food and water can be withdrawn is progress. Representative Springer considered our decade of experience as the only organization that helps patients and families facing futile care judgments; he heard our concerns and those of many others about the pitfalls of broad language, accepted our changes, and brought aboard the other stakeholders.

The main changes that were negotiated after the House Committee on State Affairs heard testimony are as follows:

The ten-day transfer period cannot begin until the patient or his family is given a copy of the relevant medical records for the current hospital admission.

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The terms “medically contraindicated” and “life-threatening” were added to clarify that AANH can only be withdrawn if AANH would seriously exacerbate a life-threatening medical problem.

The troubling term “suffering” was deleted from the bill so that the hospital committee could not impose a quality of life value judgment on the patient as the basis for withdrawing AANH.

Another exception was positively amended to read “medically ineffective in prolonging the patient’s life.”

The bill now clarifies that neither the hospital committee nor the doctor is obligated to provide AANH if doing so is contrary to the patient’s clearly documented desire to refuse such treatment.

In addition to Representative Tan Parker, others who helped Representative Springer are to be thanked: Representative Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) who serves as the Pro-Life Whip in the Texas House, Representative James Frank (R-Wichita Falls), Representative Dan Huberty (R-Houston/Kingwood), Representative Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth), and Representative Richard Raymond (D-Laredo). We are very grateful for their diligence and time spent to facilitate changes to HB 3074.

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