Patient Access to End of Life Care Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8137 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8137

   To provide for an exception to the restrictions described in the 
   Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 with respect to 
                            certain States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2024

  Ms. Pettersen (for herself and Mr. Peters) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
    in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Judiciary, 
  Education and the Workforce, Oversight and Accountability, Natural 
    Resources, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for an exception to the restrictions described in the 
   Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 with respect to 
                            certain States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Patient Access to End of Life Care 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Medical aid-in-dying is a medical practice in which a 
        mentally capable, terminally ill adult with less than six 
        months to live requests a prescription from their qualified 
        clinician for medication to bring about a peaceful death to 
        ingest at any point if their suffering becomes unbearable.
            (2) Medical aid-in-dying, an authorized medical practice, 
        is not euthanasia, mercy killing, or assisted suicide.
            (3) Oregon was the first jurisdiction to authorize medical 
        aid-in-dying through a 1994 ballot initiative. Oregon's Death 
        With Dignity Act was officially implemented in 1997.
            (4) Subsequently, Congress passed the Assisted Suicide 
        Funding Restriction Act of 1997 which, as Federal lawmakers 
        interpret it, prevents any Federal money from being used to 
        help terminally ill patients who want medical aid-in-dying, 
        such as veterans and other vulnerable populations.
            (5) Since then, 11 jurisdictions have adopted medical aid-
        in-dying laws: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, 
        Hawaii, Maine, Montana (via a State Supreme Court ruling), New 
        Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington (1 in 5 
        residents of the United States).

SEC. 3. EXCEPTION TO RESTRICTIONS DESCRIBED IN THE ASSISTED SUICIDE 
              FUNDING RESTRICTION ACT OF 1997.

    Beginning January 1, 2025, in the case of a State that permits 
medical aid-in-dying programs (in accordance with the laws of such 
State), the restrictions described in the Assisted Suicide Funding 
Restriction Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-12) shall not apply to any 
information, referrals, guidance, or medical care provided consistent 
with such programs.
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