‘Conscience’ bill passes, 21-13

SB 1353, the “conscience” bill, has passed the Senate on a 21-13 vote, but only after strong objections to the bill were expressed by many senators. “I probably could support this legislation had the authors not included the ‘end-of-life’ portion,” said Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle. Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, said, “I guess I can envision myself making the decision to refuse nourishment, and quite frankly, I don’t think that any health care professional should be able to override my decision.” Said Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, “It’s troubling to me that end-of-life and stem cell provisions ended up in this section of code, which is Title 18, Chapter 6, Abortions and Contraception. … It is not in my mind just an extension of existing law, it’s poorly written, mixes issues, ignores rural areas … (and) invites costly lawsuits to the taxpayer.”