Christian legal and pro-life groups celebrated the decision of the Arizona legislature to make into law a measure that would prohibit surrogate decision makers from denying food and fluids to an incapacitated patient.
The new measure, dubbed “Jesse’s Law” after the man from whom the bill took its inspiration, was passed Tuesday after Arizona state courts found themselves tied in a case last year not unlike the Terri Schiavo controversy that ripped across the nation three years ago.
After Jesse Ramirez, a postal worker and Gulf War veteran, awoke suddenly from a coma only weeks after he was injured in a car accident, lawmakers said that it was necessary to pass a law that would prohibit patients in comas from being denied food and water without a court ordered process.
In the case, Ramirez’s sisters had battled in court to keep their brother alive after his wife moved on her own to disengage her husband’s feeding tube.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group, commended the new measure as a victory for life everywhere.
“This law ensures that seriously injured patients will not suffer the consequences of a hasty decision that could result in death by starvation or dehydration,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb in a statement.
“Human life is valuable in its own right, and everyone deserves the chance to recover,” he explained.