Senate Bill sb0804c1
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 804
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Webster
590-1744-05
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the suspension of
3 artificially provided sustenance or hydration
4 from a person in a persistent vegetative state;
5 creating s. 765.405, F.S.; prohibiting the
6 suspension of the sustenance or hydration under
7 certain conditions; authorizing certain parties
8 to petition the court to prevent suspension of
9 the sustenance or hydration; specifying that
10 the act is remedial and providing for its
11 application; providing an effective date.
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13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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15 Section 1. Section 765.405, Florida Statutes, is
16 created to read:
17 765.405 Suspension of artificially provided sustenance
18 or hydration in absence of an advance directive.--
19 (1) Artificially provided sustenance or hydration may
20 not be suspended from a person who is in a persistent
21 vegetative state if:
22 (a) The purpose of the suspension is solely to end the
23 life of a person who is in a persistent vegetative state;
24 (b) A conflict exists between any of the parties
25 identified in s. 765.401(1)(a)-(f) regarding the decision to
26 suspend artificially provided sustenance or hydration from the
27 person who is in a persistent vegetative state; and
28 (c) The person who is in a persistent vegetative state
29 has not executed a written advance directive, executed a
30 written living will, or designated a health care surrogate,
31 which directive, will, or designation of a surrogate
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 804
590-1744-05
1 authorizes the suspension of life-prolonging procedures, as
2 defined in s. 765.101.
3 (2) Any party identified in s. 765.401(1)(a)-(f) may
4 petition the court of competent jurisdiction at any time to
5 prevent the suspension of artificially provided sustenance or
6 hydration based upon an assertion that the existence of the
7 conditions of subsection (1) prohibit the suspension of
8 artificially provided sustenance or hydration.
9 Section 2. The provisions of this act are remedial and
10 are applicable to every living person on the effective date of
11 this act. In addition, it is the intent of the Legislature,
12 and the policy of this state, to apply this act to situations
13 in which a person is in a persistent vegetative state on or
14 after the effective date of this act.
15 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
16 law.
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 804
590-1744-05
1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 Senate Bill 804
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4 The committee substitute prohibits the suspension of
artificially provided sustenance or hydration from a person in
5 a persistent vegetative state if the following conditions
exist:
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-- The purpose of the suspension is solely to end the
7 person's life;
8 -- There is a conflict between certain persons who are
statutorily recognized as potential proxies for an
9 incapacitated person; and
10 -- The person has not executed a written advance directive,
executed a written living will, or designated a health
11 care surrogate, which directive, will, or designation
authorizes suspending life-prolonging procedures.
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The committee substitute authorizes certain persons who are
13 statutorily recognized as potential proxies for an
incapacitated person to petition the court to prevent the
14 suspension of artificially provided sustenance or hydration
based on the existence of these conditions.
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The committee substitute provides that the act is remedial,
16 applies to every living person, and is intended to apply to
situations in which a person is in a persistent vegetative
17 state on or after the effective date of the act.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.