Senate Bill sb1484
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 1484
By Senator Crist
12-802-04
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to living wills; amending s.
3 765.302, F.S.; providing that a person may
4 specify in a living will or written declaration
5 which life-prolonging procedures the person
6 chooses to use and which life-prolonging
7 procedures the person chooses not to use to
8 sustain, restore, or supplant a spontaneous
9 vital function; amending s. 765.303, F.S.;
10 revising the suggested form of a living will to
11 permit a person to direct which life-prolonging
12 procedures the person chooses to have withheld
13 or withdrawn; providing an effective date.
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15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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17 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 765.302, Florida
18 Statutes, is amended to read:
19 765.302 Procedure for making a living will; notice to
20 physician.--
21 (1)(a) Any competent adult may, at any time, make a
22 living will or written declaration and direct the providing,
23 withholding, or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures in
24 the event that the such person has a terminal condition, has
25 an end-stage condition, or is in a persistent vegetative
26 state.
27 (b) The principal may specify in a living will or
28 written declaration which life-prolonging procedures the
29 principal chooses to use and which life-prolonging procedures
30 the principal chooses not to use to sustain, restore, or
31 supplant a spontaneous vital function.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 SB 1484
12-802-04
1 (c) A living will must be signed by the principal in
2 the presence of two subscribing witnesses, one of whom is
3 neither a spouse nor a blood relative of the principal. If the
4 principal is physically unable to sign the living will, one of
5 the witnesses must subscribe the principal's signature in the
6 principal's presence and at the principal's direction.
7 Section 2. Section 765.303, Florida Statutes, is
8 amended to read:
9 765.303 Suggested form of a living will.--
10 (1) A living will may, BUT NEED NOT, be in the
11 following form:
12 Living Will
13 Declaration made this .... day of ...., ...(year)...,
14 I, ........, willfully and voluntarily make known my desire
15 that my dying not be artificially prolonged under the
16 circumstances set forth below, and I do hereby declare that,
17 if at any time I am incapacitated and
18 ...(initial)... I have a terminal condition
19 or ...(initial)... I have an end-stage condition
20 or ...(initial)... I am in a persistent vegetative
21 state
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23 and if my attending or treating physician and another
24 consulting physician have determined that there is no
25 reasonable medical probability of my recovery from the such
26 condition, I direct that life-prolonging procedures, as
27 directed below, be withheld or withdrawn when the application
28 of such procedures would serve only to prolong artificially
29 the process of dying, and that I be permitted to die naturally
30 with only the administration of medication or the performance
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 SB 1484
12-802-04
1 of any medical procedure deemed necessary to provide me with
2 comfort care or to alleviate pain.
3 (initial) I choose that artificial respiration and
4 other means of sustaining involuntary body functions be
5 withheld or withdrawn.
6 (initial) I choose that artificially provided
7 sustenance and hydration be withheld or withdrawn.
8 It is my intention that this declaration be honored by
9 my family and physician as the final expression of my legal
10 right to refuse medical or surgical treatment and to accept
11 the consequences for the such refusal.
12 In the event that I have been determined to be unable
13 to provide express and informed consent regarding the
14 withholding, withdrawal, or continuation of life-prolonging
15 procedures, I wish to designate, as my surrogate to carry out
16 the provisions of this declaration:
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18 Name:.........................................................
19 Address:......................................................
20 ........................................ Zip Code:........
21 Phone:................
22 I understand the full import of this declaration, and I
23 am emotionally and mentally competent to make this
24 declaration.
25 Additional Instructions (optional):
26 ..............................................................
27 ..............................................................
28 ..............................................................
29 ....(Signed)....
30 ....Witness....
31 ....Address....
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 1484
12-802-04
1 ....Phone....
2 ....Witness....
3 ....Address....
4 ....Phone....
5
6 (2) The principal's failure to designate a surrogate
7 shall not invalidate the living will.
8 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.
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10 *****************************************
11 SENATE SUMMARY
12 Provides that a person may specify in a living will or
written declaration which life-prolonging procedures the
13 person chooses to use and which life-prolonging
procedures the person chooses not to use to sustain,
14 restore, or supplant a spontaneous vital function.
Revises the living will form to permit a person to direct
15 which life-prolonging procedures the person chooses to
have withheld or withdrawn.
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