Louisiana § 40:1151.9 General application

Louisiana Statutes

§ 40:1151.9 — General application

Louisiana § 40:1151.9

Title 40Public Health and Safety

This text of Louisiana § 40:1151.9 (General application) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

La. Stat. Ann. § 40:1151.9 (2026).

Text

§1151.9. General application A. Nothing in this Subpart shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve assistance to suicide, 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 qualified patient in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart shall not, for any purpose, constitute a suicide.

(2)Nor shall the making of a declaration pursuant to this Subpart 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 fr

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§1151.9. General application
A. Nothing in this Subpart shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve
assistance to suicide, 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 qualified
patient in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart shall not, for any purpose, constitute
a suicide.
(2) Nor shall the making of a declaration pursuant to this Subpart 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, qualified patient, notwithstanding
any term of the policy to the contrary.
(4) A person shall not be required to make a declaration 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.
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. A declaration properly executed in and under the laws of another state is deemed
to be validly executed for purposes of this Subpart.
E. 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.

Legislative History

Acts 1984, No. 382, §1; Acts 1990, No. 749, §1; Acts 1999, No. 641, §1, eff. July 1, 1999; Acts 2005, No. 447, §1; Acts 2012, No. 715, §1; Acts 2014, No. 850, §1, eff. June 23, 2014; Redesignated from R.S. 40:1299.58.10 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S.