Bishops' response to Act on Rights of Terminally Ill

In August 1985 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws drafted a document entitled The Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, which it recommended for enactment by all U.S. states. The act attempts to set uniform, clear guidelines for advance directives, or living wills--written declarations made by a patient that are used to guide treatment decisions should the patient become incompetent and terminally ill. The act limits the scope of an advance directive to the withdrawal or withholding of "life-sustaining treatment," which is "any medical procedure or intervention that when administered to a qualified patient will serve only to prolong the process of dying." Qualified patients are those with a terminal condition, which is "an incurable or irreversible condition that without the administration of life-sustaining treatment will, in the opinion of the attending physician, result in death within a relatively short time." The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) Committee for Pro-Life Activities responded to the act in July 1986. The NCCB wishes to narrow the act's scope to apply only to patients in the "final stage of a terminal condition." Other specific concerns are the withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration, the need for communication with the family in making decisions, and the protection of an unborn child's life when the mother fulfills the conditions of the act and her living will stipulates a desire for withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)