One Year Ago: Arkansas House Rejected Bad End-of-Life Legislation

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One year ago today the Arkansas House Representatives rejected two bad pieces of end-of-life legislation.

The first was H.B. 1685.

This bad bill would have let healthcare workers who are not physicians work through end-of-life decisions with patients and family members.

It did not require healthcare workers making these decisions to have appropriate training in end-of-life care.

The bill also would have made it easier to deny a dying person food or water.

H.B. 1685 received 31 votes. Fifty-five representatives voted against it.

The second was H.B. 1686. 

This bad bill would have let healthcare workers who are not physicians complete Physician Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms.

It would have removed an important provision in state law that says a POLST form is not intended to replace an advance directive.

It inadvertently would have prevented consulting physicians — such as palliative care physicians — from completing POLST forms with patients.

H.B. 1686 received 38 votes. Forty-eight representatives voted against it.

Both bills were opposed by several different groups, including:

  • National Right to Life
  • Arkansas Right to Life
  • Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA
  • Family Council
  • Northwest Arkansas Respect Life
  • Arkansas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents

As we keep saying, being pro-life means believing that human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

It means treating human life with respect at every stage of development.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted-suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.

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Vaccine Requirements for Euthanasia?

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Recently, a Switzerland-based euthanasia clinic posted that, going forward, anyone seeking so-called “death with dignity” must be fully vaccinated first. 

It isn’t quite as crazy as it sounds. They aren’t saying you have to be healthy before they kill you. Instead, they’re taking precautions for the sake of the people who provide “assistance in dying.” They don’t want patients infecting the medical professionals tasked with killing them. 

Even so, there’s plenty of tragic ironies here. For two years now, we’ve been talking about “doing what it takes” to save lives in the face of Covid. “If it saves just one life” then, we were told, that the masks, the mandates, and the lockdowns were all worth it. At the same time, proponents of doctor-assisted dying tell us that people should have full autonomy over death. 

Inconsistencies like these remind us that as much as we suppress eternity in our hearts, it’s still there. Even when our worldviews deny it, life is a wonderful gift of God, and dignity is intrinsic to who He has made us to be.

Copyright 2021 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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Murders at VA Hospital Show Why Oversight is Important in Healthcare Facilities

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On Tuesday a former nursing assistant at a VA hospital in West Virginia received seven life sentences for a series of murders she carried out at the hospital in 2017 and 2018.

USA Today writes,

During a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh called Reta Mays, 46, a monster of the “worst kind. You are the monster no one sees coming.” He delivered a life sentence for each murder victim, plus 20 years for an eighth victim she tried to kill. . . .

Mays is not eligible for probation for the seven life sentences, Kleeh said. She was ordered to pay restitution to the victims’ families.

The victims ranged in age from 81 to 96 and served in the Army, Navy and Air Force during World War II and wars in Korea and Vietnam. They died at the hands of the same person, at the same place, in the same way.

According to the article, Mays killed her victims by giving them lethal doses of insulin.

The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reportedly conducted an investigation after the murders came to light, concluding that “serious, pervasive, and deep-rooted clinical and administrative failures” at the hospital allowed the murders to go undetected for nearly a year.

“While responsibility for these criminal acts clearly lies with Ms. Mays, the OIG found inattention and missed opportunities at several junctures, which, if handled differently, might have allowed earlier detection of Ms. Mays’ actions or possibly averted them altogether,” the inspector general’s office concluded.

The murders and the inspector general’s office report illustrate why oversight is so crucial in hospitals, nursing homes, and similar facilities.

Earlier this year the Arkansas House of Representatives defeated H.B. 1685 and H.B. 1686.

These bills would have made it easier to deny food and water to people who are dying; would have made it easier to take patients off life support; and would have made it possible for healthcare workers other than doctors to make decisions about end-of-life care without appropriate training.

There also were concerns that the bills would have reduced oversight in healthcare facilities and made it easier for nursing homes to hide abuse and neglect.

That’s why groups like National Right to Life, Arkansas Right to Life, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA, Family Council, Northwest Arkansas Respect Life, Arkansas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents and others opposed these bills.

This story from West Virginia is a chilling reminder of what can happen when healthcare facilities don’t have appropriate safeguards in place. It’s also a reminder of why states need strong laws that protect patients — especially vulnerable patients near the end of life.

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