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Tuesday, June 24, 1997
Senator criticizes veto of advanced directives
bill
AUSTIN (AP) - Gov. George W. Bush's veto of a bill concerning
terminally ill patients' right to refuse or request life-sustaining
medical procedures is being blasted as a bow to extremists by
the senator who sponsored the measure.
In his veto, Bush said the measure contained "potentially
dangerous defects" that would allow a doctor to deny life-sustaining
measures to a patient who wanted them.
Sen. Mike Moncrief, who sponsored the bill, said Monday that
it would have made the law on so-called advance directives more
clear and user-friendly. Advanced directives are the requests
of patients regarding their medical treatment in their final days.
"The religious zealots on the fringe of the Republican
party tried hard to tack their own extremist agenda onto this
bill. They wanted to gut existing advance directive procedures
... It is sad and unfortunate that by caving in to the extremist
agenda, the governor has put politics ahead of good public policy
and has killed worthy legislation that would have benefited Texans,"
said Moncrief, D-Fort Worth.
Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes said, "Gov. Bush decides
whether to sign or veto a bill based on its public policy impact."
She said the measure was thoroughly analyzed by Bush's staff.
The governor said that while the bill contained "a number
of commendable measures" to streamline Texas law, those benefits
were outweighed by potential problems.
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The advance directives bill was SB414. Send a Letter to
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