Idaho Advance Directive Law’s Pregnancy Exclusion Held Invalid

Idaho’s apparent practice of requiring advance directives to contain an exclusion stating that they shouldn’t be honored in the case of a pregnant woman is invalid, as it violates a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own health-care decisions, a federal court said.

A competent person has a constitutional right to refuse medical care, the court said. But a pregnant woman in Idaho would have life-sustaining treatment forced on her despite an advance directive dictating its withdrawal, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho said.

The exclusion also violates the First Amendment, because it compels women to ...