Nebraska Statutes 30-602. Legislative intent; act, how construed
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a process for the designation of a person to make a health care decision for an adult or an emancipated minor who becomes incapable of making such a decision in the absence of a guardian or an advance health care directive.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 30-602
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Process: shall mean a summons, subpoena, or notice to appear issued out of a court in the course of judicial proceedings. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
(2) The Legislature does not intend to encourage or discourage any particular health care decision or to create any new right or alter any existing right of competent adults or emancipated minors to make such decisions, but the Legislature does intend through the Health Care Surrogacy Act to allow an adult or an emancipated minor to exercise rights he or she already possesses by means of health care decisions made on his or her behalf by a qualified surrogate.
(3) The Health Care Surrogacy Act shall not confer any new rights regarding the provision or rejection of any specific medical treatment and shall not alter any existing law concerning homicide, suicide, or assisted suicide. Nothing in the Health Care Surrogacy Act shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve purposefully causing, or assisting in causing, the death of any individual, such as by homicide, suicide, or assisted suicide.