If you have been following the news, you may be aware that physicians at Emory University Hospital in Georgia kept Adrianna Smith alive for nearly four months after she was determined to be brain dead because she was 9 weeks pregnant. If you live in Washington and are pregnant, or may become pregnant, you may be wondering what, if any, options you have to protect yourself and your family.
In Washington, the Natural Death Act allows competent adults to execute a directive refusing life-sustaining treatment if they are determined to be in a terminal condition or permanent unconscious condition, even if they are pregnant. In fact, Washington lawmakers recently took the step of removing references to pregnancy from the suggested statutory template found in RCW 70.122.030, for an advance healthcare directive. If you’re interested in their reasoning, you can check out the bill analysis here: 1215 HBA CRJ 25.
The new law does not prevent the administration of life-preserving treatment, it simply no longer includes “default” language that invalidates the rest of the directive in the case of a pregnancy. It is important to note that The Natural Death Act does not require health care providers to participate in the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment if they object to so doing, however your providers must inform you if they have objections.
Decisions about whether to receive life-sustaining treatment when faced with a terminal condition or lack of brain function are highly personal and your decisions may change or vary depending on whether you are pregnant or not. Having an advance health care directive in place, reviewing it with your health care providers, loved ones, and whomever will be responsible for making medical decisions for you is essential.
If you do not have a health care directive in place or are interested in reviewing and customizing your health care directive so that it accurately reflects your wishes, feel free to book a 15 minute consultation and explore whether developing a life and legacy plan that reflects your values makes sense.
Questions to consider regarding Health Care Directives:
- Do you have a properly executed Health Care Directive on file with your healthcare providers?
- Does it still accurately reflect your wishes? Are your wishes different depending on whether you are or are not pregnant?
- Have you designated a durable power of attorney for health care decisions? Have you reviewed your health care directive with them?
- Do you know what will happen if you don’t have a properly executed health care directive?
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