There are now three bills seeking to amend Idaho's "conscience law" to protect patients' living wills and advance care directives as they're dying, and one House committee chairman has buried all three in his desk drawer and refused to hold hearings on them, the AARP of Idaho, legislative sponsors of the bills and a group of Idaho seniors announced at a Statehouse press conference today.

"I probably had 100 contacts saying, 'Please fix that bill,'" Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, the sponsor of one of the stalled measures, said today. His bill was introduced in the House Judiciary Committee on a unanimous vote, but then the speaker assigned it to the State Affairs Committee, where Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, stuck it in his desk drawer. "Despite frequent contacts, almost daily contacts ... he would never give me an explanation," Smith said.

Smith's bill simply adds a line to the existing conscience law, of which Loertscher was a co-sponsor last year, to say it can't override patients' legal living wills and advance care directives. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, also has drafted a bill; it removes "end of life care and treatment" from the conscience law entirely, which is mainly aimed at allowing health care providers to refuse to provide care related to abortion or emergency contraception that violates their conscience. Trail said he's gotten a "very favorable attorney general's opinion on it - it would do the job for us." He took his bill to Loertscher for introduction in the State Affairs Committee, but it's never been scheduled for consideration. Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, drafted a bill almost identical to Trail's, and had the same experience.

Trail said, "I urge Rep. Loertscher to give us a hearing. ... Otherwise, it's a great overstep by the state in squashing the individual rights of our senior citizens."

Peggy Munson, 72, the volunteer state president of the Idaho AARP, said, "We've got a problem here and we need our lawmakers to tackle it this session. I've heard from members across Idaho this past year, ever since this 'conscience' law passed, and they are outraged at the law's impact on their medical directives. They don't want any sate law messing with their legal rights, and this law does just that. This is a case of government overreach, and it's just plain wrong - I don't want to learn someone else's conscience on my deathbed. I want my rights protected."

The group delivered 500 letters to Loertscher after the press conference, pressing him to give the bills a hearing. Click below to read the group's full statement. Said David Irwin, AARP spokesman, "We're not going away."
 

AARP Idaho

For Immediate Release                                                       
Thursday, February 17, 2011                                                                              
                                                                             
IDAHO’S “CONSCIENCE” LAW LEAVES LIVING WILLS IN LIMBO, AARP SAYS “TIME TO FIX IT”

Assoc. Joins w/ Legislators in Calling for Action to Protect End-of-Life Directives & Launches Statewide “FIX IT” Effort

BOISE, Idaho – Thousands of phone calls, letters and emails urging legislators to fix Idaho’s so- called “conscience” law, which allows health care professionals to refuse to honor advance directives, have so far fallen on deaf ears at the State Capitol.  Today, with legislation to correct the law bottled up in the House State Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Tom Loertscher, AARP joined with a bipartisan group of Legislators to send another message to state lawmakers: “Enough is enough; it’s time to fix the law.”

Representatives Leon Smith (R-Twin Falls), Tom Trail (R-Moscow), Elfreda Higgins (D-Garden City) and Phyllis King (D-Boise) joined with AARP members today, who told their personal stories about the importance of end-of-life directives, in calling for legislative action to protect their legal rights.  Afterwards the AARP members delivered roughly 500 letters from concerned members across Idaho urging Rep. Loertscher and his colleagues to pass legislation addressing the issue.   

One bill to ensure advance directives are honored is House Bill 28, sponsored by Representative Smith, which simply says advance directives should be guided by the state law that guarantees they are honored instead of by the conscience law.  The bill is currently stuck in the House State Affairs Committee - other proposals call for the removal of the language in the law that threatens the end-of-life documents.

“AARP members across Idaho are outraged their state lawmakers would enact a law that leaves their advance directives in legal limbo,” said Jim Wordelman, State Director for AARP in Idaho.  “Idahoans don’t want their legal rights messed with and this law does just that, it’s time to fix the law.”

Today, AARP also announced the “Fix It” campaign, aimed at engaging its members and the public in efforts to correct the law this legislative session.  As part of the effort, AARP has established the Patient’s Rights Hotline (1-800-232-0581), putting its members and the public directly in touch with their legislators on the issue. AARP has also taken the fight on-line, igniting its thousands of e-activists to take action, and encourage their friend and family to do the same.  The Association will also hit the airwaves, print and web in the coming days to educate the public about the law and its impact, and urge lawmakers to tackle it.

“The “conscience” law flies in the face of existing Idaho law, the Medical Consent and Natural Death Act, which is meant to guarantee advance directive documents are honored,” added Wordelman.  “AARP encourages its members to complete advance directives to ensure their legal end-of-life wishes are upheld, the new law is a direct threat to that.”

Fixing the law is a priority issue for AARP Idaho. Prior to the passage of the “conscience” law last year, thousands of AARP members contacted their legislators urging the removal of language relating to advance directives.  During election season, AARP continued to remind candidates of the importance of addressing the issue once elected, which AARP members rated as one of the most important, second only to the state budget.

AARP is Idaho’s largest membership organization with 180,000 members.

Follow us on Twitter @AARPIdaho and Facebook: AARP Idaho

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