RUMFORD – Arthur Boivin was encouraged Monday afternoon. Legislators dealing with a bill drafted to correct what he and his dying wife experienced last spring are to begin work using Boivin’s proposed one-page living will form.
On one line, in bold type, is a request for a Do-Not-Resuscitate order that the person making the will can choose to have applied.
“The common citizen can read this, that’s why I took it to the language I did, because you’re not dealing with a lawyer. Keep it plain and simple,” he said.
He introduced the document during testimony at a Judiciary Committee public hearing on behalf of a bill that seeks to give people the authority to die with dignity at home. The hearing took place Friday in the State House in Augusta
The bill, L.D. 1763, would require emergency responders to follow a patient’s do-not-resuscitate orders in advance health-care directives, with or without a doctor’s signature.
Sen. Bruce Bryant, D-Dixfield, drafted the bill on behalf of Boivin, his friend and constituent.
Boivin’s wife of 42 years, Lyanne, died last spring of stomach cancer. Only days before her death, she signed a living will form, but she didn’t get a separate DNR order with a physician’s signature. That left her husband trying to resolve the matter at a time of crisis when he learned his wife’s wishes would not be fulfilled.
The form contains an identification block, another block in which to identify a person’s agent or secondary agent, a line for a signature and date of the health care person who explains the form, and a list of choices from which to select.
Under that are two blocks, one for witnesses, the other to list the person’s physician and a notary public.
“You do not need a notary public in Maine for a living will, but if you want it in another state, some states require that,” Boivin said.
Seeing Boivin’s one-page form at Friday’s hearing caused Judiciary Committee Sen. David R. Hastings III, R-Fryeburg, to say, “It’s refreshing to see a one-page document once in a while.”
Republican Rep. Roger L. Sherman followed Hastings’ lead while discussing it with Leo Delicata, an attorney for Legal Services for the Elderly of Scarborough, during Delicata’s testimony.
Sherman said he, too, would like to see a very simple form.
Delicata, who testified in favor of L.D. 1763, argued against the form.
“I wish we could just talk with our physician and that would be OK,” Delicata said.
“I’m not sure that having a one-page anything is going to help. This is a constant educational struggle. We need to make sure everyone understands what the rules are,” he said.
Later, Delicata appeared to agree with Boivin when he said, “People have the right to make these decisions, and shouldn’t have to have permission.”
Still, he said he believes a doctor should somehow be involved in the process.
Then, responding to the concerns about living wills not being honored, which were raised by Rep. Joan M. Nass, R-Acton, Delicata said, “If you don’t want to be resuscitated, don’t call EMTs, because if you do, that’s what they’re going to do.”
Nass, Sherman, Hastings and other members of the Judiciary Committee are scheduled to begin working on L.D. 1763 and Boivin’s document sometime after 1 p.m. Thursday, March 9, in Room 438 at the State House in Augusta.
Comments are no longer available on this story