§ 22-8A-6 — Proxy to Comply with Instructions, Intent of Patient

An individual designated to make decisions regarding the providing, withholding, or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration for another pursuant to Section 22-8A-4(b) shall make those decisions according to the specific instructions or directions given to him or her in the designation or other document or by the individual making the designation. In the absence of specific directions or guidance, the designated proxy shall make those decisions that conform as closely as possible to what the patient would have done or intended under the circumstances, taking into account the patient’s personal, philosophical, religious and moral beliefs, and ethical values relative to the decisions. Where possible, the designated proxy shall determine how the patient would have weighed the burdens and benefits of initiating or continuing life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration against the burdens and benefits to the patient of that treatment.

Legislative History

(Acts 1981, No. 81-772, p. 1329, §6; Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §1.)