106th Congress

ANA Letter to Senate Committee on the Judiciary regarding Title I of H.R. 2260, the Pain Relief Promotion Act

March 21, 2000

Dear Senator:

I am writing on behalf of the American Nurses Association to express our opposition to Title I of H.R. 2260, the Pain Relief Promotion Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives in 1999 and is scheduled to be considered by the Committee on the Judiciary in the near future.

ANA has been actively involved in efforts to prohibit assisted suicide, and we continue our strong commitment to the principle that the role of medical and nursing professionals must be to heal and relieve those in pain but not to act to end a life or to make the means of death available to a person who seeks to end his or her own life.

However, the legislation that has been proposed would have chilling effect on pain management and result in needless suffering, a result that is totally at odds with the professional commitment of the nursing profession. Investigations by the Drug Enforcement Administration, using the ambiguous standard of the intentions of the health care professionals involved in the prescription of medication, would be intimidating and counterproductive. H.R. 2260, in making effective pain and symptom relief more difficult to obtain, is likely to increase, rather than decrease demands for assisted suicide. Furthermore, it would do nothing to address assisted suicide by means other than controlled substances.

Nurses have long been in the forefront as leaders and advocates for the delivery of dignified and humane end-of-life care and are obligated to provide relief of suffering and comfort to a dying person. Participation in assisted suicide is not acceptable under the ethical mandates of the profession, but neither should the legal system erect barriers to appropriate palliative care, which is also an ethical mandate for the profession.

ANA believes that Title I of the Pain Relief Promotion Act would erect a tragic barrier to appropriate palliative care, and we are ethically bound to oppose it. We appreciate your consideration of our views on this issue and urge you to vote against this legislation.

Sincerely,

Marjorie Vanderbilt
Director, Government Affairs

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