Thuy Newborne
Nov. 15, 2018.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – On November 15, 2018, House Bill Number ORU-511 by Noah Orth of the Oral Roberts University Delegation presented a euthanasia bill before the body. The provided definitions set a settling mood for the body to see the un-cruel intent of the author for those seeking a peaceful passing. The act shall be known as the “Mercy” Act of 2018. In section 3 of the bill under law reads; “A patient’s attending physician shall have the power to fill an aid-in-dying medication prescription to a patient entering end of life care if the individual’s attending physician has diagnosed the individual with a terminal diagnosed the individual with a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less…” Representative Orth wrote a couple of requirements to meet in order for them to be eligible for the prescribed the medication are: “The patient is eighteen (18) or older, the patient is a resident of the state of Oklahoma, and he or she is capable of making and communicating health care decisions for him or herself and has made the request voluntarily.” The penalties section calls for “any insurance company found in violation of this law shall be subject to a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation” and “any physician or caregiver found administering aid-in-dying medication outside of the guidelines shall, in pursuant to Oklahoma law, be guilty of aiding suicide, punishable by imprisonment in a state penitentiary for no less than fifteen years.”
The bill passed by House like a breeze but had to go through high-waters in the Senate. The Senators made sure that the language of the bill is grammatically correct and adjusted a couple of things that resulted in six-teen different amendments. Even with the obsessive amount of amendments passed by the Senators, Representative Orth’s bill was short lived and died in the Senate’s Chamber.