Senate Bill 3076 - POLST bill is in the Senate Public Health Committee
SB 3076 amends the Illinois Physician's Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment [POLST] form to allow for "practitioners" other than physicians to sign the POLST form. The other "practitioners" include "advanced practical nurse, physician's assistant or licensed resident after completion of one year in a program." It requires POLST forms to be honored by health facilities.
Problems with SB 3076:
The POLST form, which gives no distinctions for terminal and non-terminal conditions, is more for removing "life-sustaining" treatment than for protecting patients with "life-sustaining" treatment. SB 3076 would change the long-standing relationship of doctor and patient in matters of end-of-life decisions by having nurses and even less qualified physician's assistants talk to patients about these decisions and authorize "actionable medical orders" including "do-no-resuscitate" orders even in non-terminal situations.
A patient who signs a POLST form can check a box "do-not-attempt-resuscitation" if he/she stops breathing and the pulse stops. This is an "actionable medical order" to do nothing even if CPR would clearly be called for in a medical situation. For example, an allergic reaction to a medication can stop the breathing and pulse, but most patients would want to have CPR. The POLST form says NO.
Also, many elderly and frail patients may not understand the various options available to them with a POLST form, and so should have better education and options that the POLST form does not give.
Pro-Life has broad concerns with the POLST forms. One clear concern is that private foundations that have put their money into promoting POLST have also given large amounts of money to the Euthansia organizations.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
SB 3076 -- State Senator John Mulroe]-- is in the Senate Public Health Committee and will be heard in committee when the Senate returns after the Illinois Primaries on March 18th.
Please contact your state senator this week and urge him/her to vote NO on SB 3076 - the POLST bill, which will change who can sign the POLST form from the long-standing authority of doctors, to include those persons who are advance practice nurses and physician's assistants. You can find you legislator's contact information at: http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
The Public Health Committee Members are:
Chairman John Mulroe
Mattie Hunter
Napoleon Harris, III
Kwame Raoul
Heather A. Steans
Patricia Van Pelt
Dave Syverson
Dari M. LaHood
Jim Oberweis
ANOTHER IMPORTANT ACTION ITEM:
REGISTER ONLINE WITH THE ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN ORDER TO FILE WITNESS SLIPS (YOUR VIEWS ON LEGISLATION) FOR THE SENATE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE AGAINST SB 3076. PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS BELOW. AFTER YOU HAVE REGISTERED YOU CAN FILE WITNESS SLIPS.. YOU WILL ALSO BE REGISTERED TO FILE WITNESS SLIPS ON OTHER PRO-LIFE RELATED LEGISLATION THAT WE ALERT YOU TO.
REGISTER NOW OR BY MARCH 13TH, WHEN SB 3076 IS OFFICIALLY POSTED FOR A HEARING, AND YOU CAN FILE A WITNESS SLIP AGAINST IT.
STEPS TO REGISTER ONLINE:
Go to the Illinois General Assembly Website at www.ilga.gov
At the website, click on "GA Dashboard" found in red under "Reports and Inguiry"
See website link here: http://www.ilga.gov/
At the Dashboard site, click on "Register" on the left column
See Dashboard link here: http://my.ilga.gov/
At the "Create an Account" page, follow the requests to put in your email and create your password. Check that you agree to the Terms and Agreements and then click "register."
Now that you have created an account, you can "log in" when ever you need to file a witness slip.
WHILE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO FILE A WITNESS SLIP AGAINST SB 3076 UNTIL IT IS RE-POSTED FOR PUBLIC HEALTH ON OR ABOUT MARCH 13 [AND AFTER] , FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW ON HOW TO DO THIS:
First, follow the directions above to get to the GA Dashboard once you are registered.
When you are there, click "log in" found at the upper right of the screen.
Then click "Senate" at the left of the screen.
Then click "Committees" at the left of the screen
Go down to find Public Health Committee and if it says "Scheduled" on the right of it, click on the second icon "View Committee Hearings"
Then, click on "View Legislation" on right.
When bills appear, find SB 3076 and click on the second icon "Create Witness Slip"
Then complete the witness form. Make sure to check "opponent" under POSITION and "record of appearance only" under TESTIMONY , then click "Create (Slip)"
If hundreds of people throughout the State do this, it would be a powerful message against SB 3076 and the members of the committee will take notice.
