May 11, 2005, Introduced by Reps. Gleason, Hummel and Gaffney and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.
A bill to allow certain health facilities to object to
providing or participating in certain procedures under certain
circumstances; and to provide for protection from certain
liability.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. As used in this act:
(a) "Health care service" means the provision or withdrawal
of, or research or experimentation involving, a medical diagnosis,
treatment, procedure, diagnostic test, device, medication, drug, or
other substance intended to affect the physical or mental condition
of an individual.
(b) "Health facility" means any of the following:
(i) A clinical laboratory.
(ii) A county medical care facility.
(iii) A freestanding surgical outpatient facility.
(iv) A home for the aged.
(v) A hospital.
(vi) A nursing home.
(vii) A hospice.
(viii) A hospice residence.
(ix) A facility or agency listed in subparagraphs (i) to (vi)
located in a university, college, or other educational institution.
(x) A private physician's office.
(xi) A medical clinic.
(xii) A public or private institution that provides health care
services to an individual.
(xiii) A teaching institution that provides health care services
to an individual.
(xiv) A pharmacy that provides health care services to an
individual.
(xv) A corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, limited
liability company, or other legal entity that provides health care
services to an individual.
(c) "Health profession" means a vocation, calling, occupation,
or employment performed by individuals acting pursuant to a license
or registration issued under article 15 of the public health code,
1978 PA 368, MCL 333.16101 to 333.18838. However, health profession
does not include a vocation, calling, occupation, or employment
performed by an individual licensed or registered as a sanitarian
or a veterinarian.
(d) "Participate" or "participating" means, at a minimum, to
counsel, refer, perform, administer, prescribe, dispense, treat,
withhold, withdraw, diagnose, test, evaluate, train, research,
prepare, or provide medical advice or material or physical
assistance in a health care service.
(e) "Public health emergency" means a condition or situation
that presents an immediate threat to the public health, safety, or
welfare and requires immediate action to preserve the public
health, safety, or welfare.
Sec. 2. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
health facility may withdraw or withhold from providing a health
care service, or may refuse to provide or participate in a health
care service, on ethical, moral, or religious grounds as reflected
in its organizational documents, charter, bylaws, or an adopted
mission statement.
(2) A health facility shall not assert an objection described
in subsection (1) under any of the following circumstances:
(a) The objection is to a health care service the health
facility routinely provides or participates in and is based on a
disagreement with a member of a health profession employed by,
under contract to, or granted privileges by the health facility
regarding the medical appropriateness of a health care service for
a specific patient if the patient has consented to the provision of
the health care service.
(b) In the event of a public health emergency.
(c) In the event of an emergency where a patient's condition,
in the reasonable medical judgment of an attending physician or
medical director, requires immediate action to avert serious
injury, harm, impairment, or death or is such that a delay would
create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of
a major bodily function to that patient.
(3) This act does not relieve a health care facility from a
duty that exists under another statute or other law pertaining to
medical standards of acceptable health care practices and
procedures.
(4) A health facility's objection as described in subsection
(1) to providing or participating in a health care service shall
not be a basis for 1 or more of the following:
(a) Civil, criminal, or administrative liability.
(b) Eligibility discrimination against the health facility in
a grant, contract, or program, unless providing or participating in
the health care service is the exclusive purpose for the grant,
contract, or program.