Pewstates
Oklahoma’s “Life-Preserving” Law Raises Questions for Doctors
By Michael Ollove 

TULSA, Okla. – University of Tulsa law professor Marguerite Chapman has been studying end-of-life issues in Oklahoma for three decades and has come to a conclusion: “It’s getting almost to the point that you need a government permit in order to die in this state.” 

Certainly, dying has gotten a lot more complicated here, the result of a unique measure passed by the Oklahoma legislature and signed into law last month by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin. 

Modeled after legislation written by the National Right to Life Committee, the law says that patients who are disabled, elderly or terminally ill cannot be denied life-preserving treatments if they or their health proxies want it. 

The law also prohibits health care providers from making medical decisions based on the assumption that “extending the life of an elderly, disabled, or terminally ill individual (is) of lower value than extending the life of an individual who is younger, nondisabled, or not terminally ill.” 

Idaho is the only state with a similar law, but with a crucial distinction. It says the wishes of the patient or proxy must be followed “unless such care would be futile.” The Oklahoma law contains no such qualifier... 

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