Committee hears bill to remove pregnancy exclusion from state advance directive model form

House Bill 1215, which would remove a pregnancy exclusion clause from Washington's statutory model advanced health care directive, received a public hearing before the Law & Justice Committee March 17.

Ryan Giannini, staff counsel to the committee, told members the bill would "remove references to pregnancy from the model directive form under the Natural Death Act." He explained an advanced health care directive expresses a person's preferences about withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment and that the current statutory model form contains a provision that voids the directive if the signer is pregnant and a physician knows of the…