Louisiana § RS 40:1155.6 - General application

§ RS 40:1155.6. General application

            A. Nothing in this Subpart shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.

            B.(1) The withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures from a patient who has duly executed a LaPOST form in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart shall not, for any purpose, constitute a suicide.

            (2) The execution of a LaPOST form pursuant to this Subpart shall not affect the sale, procurement, or issuance of any life insurance policy, nor shall it be deemed to modify the terms of an existing policy.

            (3) No policy shall be legally impaired or invalidated by the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures from an insured who has duly executed a LaPOST form, notwithstanding any term of the policy to the contrary.

            (4) A person shall not be required to execute a LaPOST form as a condition for being insured or for receiving health care services.

            (5) The removal of life support systems or the failure to administer cardio-pulmonary resuscitation under this Subpart shall not be deemed the cause of death for purposes of insurance coverage or the denial of insurance coverage.

            C. The provisions of this Subpart are cumulative with existing law pertaining to an individual's right to consent or refuse to consent to medical or surgical treatment.

            D. It is the policy of the state of Louisiana that human life is of the highest and inestimable value through natural death. When interpreting this Subpart, any ambiguity shall be interpreted to preserve human life, including the life of an unborn child if the qualified patient is pregnant and an obstetrician who examines the woman determines that the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child is twenty or more weeks and the pregnant woman's life can reasonably be maintained in such a way as to permit the continuing development and live birth of the unborn child, and such determination is communicated to the relevant classes of family members and persons designated in R.S. 40:1151.4.

            Acts 2010, No. 954, §1; Acts 2014, No. 850, §1, eff. June 23, 2014; Redesignated from R.S. 40:1299.64.6 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S; Acts 2018, No. 206, §4.