RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO FOOD AND WATER RESOLUTION
Adopted at the
NCIL Annual Council Meeting
July 14, 2005

WHEREAS, the right to food and water is a basic human right; and

WHEREAS, the past few years have seen highly publicized legal battles seeking to remove restrictions on starvation and dehydration of people with cognitive disabilities; and

WHEREAS, numerous states have enacted statutes removing restrictions on the starvation and dehydration of people with cognitive disabilities; and

WHEREAS, many hospitals have enacted "futility" policies that enable medical providers to overrule the wishes of individuals with disabilities and their families when the medical professionals devalue the life of the person in question; and

WHEREAS, twenty-five national disability groups have adopted a position, in response to the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, opposing nonvoluntary starvation and dehydration;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, NCIL supports legislation that restores and maintains restrictions on surrogate decisions for withholding of food and water via tube. Specifically, legislation should only allow for withholding of food and water in the presence of "clear and convincing evidence" of the person's wishes or when the person's medical condition renders them incapable of digesting or absorbing the nutrition and hydration so that its provision would not contribute to sustaining the person's life.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that centers for independent living in each state are encouraged to advocate for legislation and other public policies to establish or restore constitutional restrictions on the starvation and dehydration of people with cognitive disabilities.