Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes a "qualified terminally ill patient" to self-administer medication to end their life.

Highlights:

• Defines “qualified terminally ill patient” as a “capable” New Jersey resident over the age of 18, who is acting voluntarily and has an irreversibly fatal illness, disease, or condition which entails a life expectancy of 6 months or less (Sec. 3).

• Defines “capable” as having the ability to make health care decisions and to communicate them to a healthcare provider (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that an individual cannot be qualified as a terminally ill patient solely due to the patient’s age or disability (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes a qualified terminally ill patient to obtain and self-administer life-ending medication, if the following conditions are met (Secs. 2, 5, & 10):
• The patient submits 2 oral requests and 1 written request to their attending physician;
• The patient waits 15 days after the initial oral request before submitting the second oral request; and
• The patient secures the signatures of 2 witnesses to the written request, with at least 1 of these witnesses not being a relative of the patient or entitled to part of the patient’s estate upon the patient’s death.

• Requires the attending physician to refer the patient to a consulting physician for medical confirmation of the diagnosis and for confirmation that the patient is acting voluntarily (Sec. 6).

• Requires the attending physician to refer the patient to participate in a consultation concerning additional treatment opportunities, hospice care, and pain control options (Sec. 6).

• Requires the attending physician to offer the patient the opportunity to rescind his or her request after the second oral request is made (Secs. 6 & 10).

• Requires either physician to refer the patient to a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist to determine capability if the patient has a psychiatric or psychological disorder that causes impaired judgment (Sec. 8).

• Requires any healthcare professional who is unable or unwilling to carry out the patient’s request to transfer the patient’s records to the patient’s new healthcare professional, upon request (Sec. 17). 

Full Bill Text