HB 1283 -- Assisted Suicide

Sponsor:  Bennett

This bill requires the Board of Healing Arts to automatically
revoke the license of a physician who is found guilty of or who
has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere for assisting in
a suicide in any jurisdiction of the United States or if there
is convincing evidence that the physician has assisted in a
suicide in any jurisdiction.

The provision does not apply to a physician who participates in
an execution for the Department of Corrections or follows the
directions in a living will or durable power of attorney for
health care decisions.  The bill also establishes a class B
felony of knowingly causing another person to commit or attempt
to commit suicide, but exempts from that definition the
withholding or withdrawing of a life-sustaining procedure.  In
addition, the bill establishes a cause of action for injunctive
relief and civil damages, including attorneys' fees, against a
person who assists or attempts to assist another person to
commit or attempt suicide.