Senate Bill 17-10, or the Cancer Registry Act, and Senate Bill 17-11, or the Medical Consent Act, will now go to the House of Representatives.
The nonprofit group Commonwealth Cancer Association strongly backed up both bills.
Alex Sablan, president of the CCA board, said S.B. 17-11 will allow for the development of a home hospice and a palliative care plan for terminally ill patients in the CNMI.
“Hospice is a philosophy of care that seeks to empower terminally ill patients to live out their last days free of pain, with dignity and quality. Hospice affirms life, and neither hastens nor postpones death but rather accepts the natural process of dying. It treats the person, rather than the disease, focusing on quality of life rather than length of life and providing palliative care to relieve the pain, stress, and symptoms of serious illness,” he said in his written
comments to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
He said having a hospice care in the CNMI would make it easier for terminally ill patients.
“Adults who exercise their right to accept the natural process of dying and to have life-sustaining treatment withdrawn or withheld in the event of terminal or permanent unconscious condition also have the right to live out their last days comfortably and with dignity, surrounded by their loved ones,” he added.
If enacted into law, S.B. 17-10 would mandate the creation of a cancer registry in the CNMI.
Sablan said this project is critical to diagnose, treat and provide care for cancer patients in the CNMI.
“A cancer registry is critical for the CNMI in large part because of the inherently complex nature of cancer diagnosis, treatment and care in our community,” he said.
