07 LC 36
0678S
The
Senate Health and Human Services Committee offered the following substitute to
SR 385:
A
RESOLUTION
Creating
the Senate Study Committee for a Georgia Advance Directives Registry; and for
other purposes.
WHEREAS,
over the past 30 years, "advance directives" for health care have been
increasingly embraced by individuals seeking to have their wishes respected at
the end of life by the medical community, its facilities, practitioners,
clinicians, and first responders; and
WHEREAS,
all 50 states currently have some version of advance directive legislation
reflecting the consensus within the legal, political, and medical communities
that patient autonomy and self-determination at the end of life should be
recognized and legally protected; and
WHEREAS,
the absence of a Georgia data base that registers individual´s advance
directives for health care poses a significant obstacle to the ability of the
medical community to follow a patient´s end-of-life decisions;
and
WHEREAS,
the establishment of a Georgia registry of advance directives for health care is
technologically feasible and is crucial to ensuring compliance with individual
decisions and health care accountability.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that there is created the Senate Study
Committee for a Georgia Advance Directives Registry to study the development and
administration of a state maintained data base of advance directives for the
purpose of ensuring proper notification within the health care community of
patient wishes and thereby validate and respect individual dignity and autonomy
in end-of-life decisions to be composed of five members of the Senate to be
appointed by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall
designate a member of the committee as chairperson of the committee. The
chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall undertake a study of the
conditions, needs, and issues mentioned above or related thereto and recommend
any action or legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.
The committee may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it
may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively
its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of
this resolution. The members of the committee shall receive the allowances
provided for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member
of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized.
The funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come
from the funds appropriated to the Senate. In the event the committee makes a
report of its findings and recommendations, with suggestions for proposed
legislation, if any, such report shall be made on or before the convening of the
2008 session of the General Assembly, at which time the committee shall stand
abolished.