State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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90_SR0076

                                              LRB9005679JSgcC
 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION
 2        WHEREAS, A terminally ill patient should have the  choice
 3    to  request  to  end  his  or  her life in a dignified manner
 4    without resorting to assisted suicide; and
 5        WHEREAS, Recent studies have  criticized  care  given  to
 6    dying patients, especially in acute care settings, indicating
 7    that  dying  patients  often  face unnecessary physical pain,
 8    emotional    suffering,    and    questionable    last-minute
 9    interventions, such as CPR; and
10        WHEREAS, Physicians have been  slow  to  address  comfort
11    care  when clearly a cure was not always possible for several
12    reasons; and
13        WHEREAS, Death education is clearly  lacking  in  medical
14    training;  archaic  State  laws  governing medication used to
15    manage   pain   often   place    the    physicians    in    a
16    conscience-conflict situation; therefore, be it
17        RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
18    OF  THE  STATE  OF  ILLINOIS,  that there is created the Task
19    Force on Comfort Care for the Terminally Ill consisting of  2
20    members  of  the Senate and 2 members of the public appointed
21    by the President of the Senate, who shall  designate  one  of
22    the  Senate members as the chairperson of the Task Force, and
23    2 members of the Senate and 2 members of the public appointed
24    by the Minority Leader of the Senate, all of whom shall serve
25    without  compensation  but  shall  be  reimbursed  for  their
26    reasonable and necessary expenses; and be it further
27        RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall study historical  and
28    current  practices  with  respect to care provided during the
29    last days of a terminally  ill  patient's  life;  and  be  it
30    further
31        RESOLVED,  That  the  Task  Force  shall also investigate
                            -2-               LRB9005679JSgcC
 1    existing medical  procedures  that  prolong  the  life  of  a
 2    terminally   ill  patient  and  identify  the  strengths  and
 3    weaknesses of those procedures and the burdens  and  benefits
 4    those procedures confer upon the patient; and be it further
 5        RESOLVED,  That  the  Task force study existing State law
 6    relating to the terminally ill; and be it further
 7        RESOLVED, That the Task  Force  shall  meet  as  soon  as
 8    possible  after  the appointment of a majority of its members
 9    to the Task Force to begin its study, shall  thereafter  meet
10    at  the  call of the chairperson, shall hold public hearings,
11    and shall report its findings and  recommendations  regarding
12    the care of the terminally ill to the Senate by filing copies
13    of  its  report with the Secretary of the Senate on or before
14    January 31, 1998; and be it further
15        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
16    presented  to the President of the Senate and to the Minority
17    Leader of the Senate.

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