Ajello introduces Lila Sapinsley Compassionate Care Act

 

STATE HOUSE – Rep. Edith H. Ajello has introduced legislation aimed at allowing terminally ill Rhode Islanders to end their suffering on their own terms.

The Lila Manfield Sapinsley Compassionate Care Act would guarantee a terminal patient’s right to choose to hasten the end of their lives under certain conditions.

“Terminally ill patients should not be forced to remain in agony without hope of reprieve if they wish otherwise. We should trust patients to know when they have suffered enough, and respect their wishes. The Lila Sapinsley Act is carefully written to provide many layers of protection, and I am confident that Rhode Island can safely join the ranks of states that allow compassion for people suffering at the end of their lives,” said Representative Ajello (D-Dist. 1, Providence).

The legislation, which Representative Ajello has introduced since 2015, is named for the former Rhode Island senator Lila Sapinsley, a political mainstay in Rhode Island. Active since the 1960s, she was the first female Senate minority leader. After leaving the Senate, she remained active and was well known for her work on health care access, protecting civil liberties, promoting open government and engaging young students. Before her death at age 92 in 2014, she had been working to develop and promote this legislation.

The bill (2023-H 5210) would establish a system through which terminally ill adult patients could request from their physician a prescription for medication to be self-administered to hasten the patient’s death. Legal compliance would require that the patient make two documented requests to their physician, at least 15 days apart, including a written request signed in the presence of two witnesses. The patient must be informed that they can rescind their request at any time.

The process spells out numerous conditions that must be met, including that the patient be informed of their prognosis, treatment options, and all feasible end-of-life services including palliative care, comfort care, hospice care and pain control. The patient must be referred to another physician for second opinions. Additionally, the bill requires verification that the patient does not have impaired judgment.

Under the proposed legislation, no doctor, nurse or other person would be subject to any criminal or civil penalty for providing the prescription.

No doctor, nurse or other person would be legally required to prescribe a lethal dose of medication for a patient. Health care facilities would be allowed to prohibit physicians from writing prescriptions for lethal doses of medication for patients who are residents of the facility.

Ten states, including Maine and Vermont, and the District of Columbia have similar laws allowing medical aid while dying.

 

 

President Trump is expressing condolences after recent flooding in central Texas. Trump got a close-up look at devastation in Kerrville today. During a roundtable discussion with local officials and first responders, Trump said he was there to express the anguish of the entire nation. Over 120 people are dead and many remain missing.        A farm worker is dead after an immigration raid at a Southern California cannabis farm Thursday. The United Farm Workers union announced the man's death on social media. The man's family says he fell 30 feet off a building, apparently trying to run from the ICE agents who were chasing him. The union says several other workers were critically injured during the raid in Ventura County.        President Trump is setting a 35-percent tariff on Canada. In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump said that starting August 1st, a 35-percent tariff on Canadian products sent into the U.S. will be imposed. Trump said it comes as part of a response to "Canada's retaliation" and ongoing trade barriers.        The deputy director of the FBI is considering stepping down. Multiple reports say Dan Bongino has told people he is thinking about resigning after clashing with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Jeffrey Epstein files. Earlier this week, a memo stated there is no evidence that Epstein kept a so-called "client list." Bongino had been outspoken about the Epstein case in the past before he became FBI deputy director.        Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is calling for accountability after filing a claim against the Trump administration. Khalil's 20-million-dollar claim alleges false imprisonment and prosecution. The Trump administration is trying to deport Khalil after he helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia. He was arrested by ICE agents last March and held for months before being released in June.        Former presidential advisor David Gergen has passed away at age 83. The New York Times reports he died at a retirement community in Lexington, Massachusetts. Gergen began his White House career in the Nixon administration and also served under Presidents Ford, Reagan and then Bill Clinton. He also worked as a political commentator and was once the editor of U.S. News and World Report.