State Rep. Joel Sheltrown thinks adulterous husbands or wives shouldn't be allowed to keep food or medical treatment from a spouse who's unable to make those decisions.
Sheltrown is drafting legislation to address an issue surrounding brain-damaged Terri Schiavo in Florida. Schiavo's parents say her husband, Michael Schiavo, wants to disconnect her feeding tube and hasten her death so he can marry his girlfriend with whom he has two children.
Michael Schiavo had battled for years to remove his wife's feeding tube, saying she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means.
"I question the motives, his ability for good judgment in a situation like that, where you're with another woman, you went on with your life," Sheltrown, D-West Branch, said Tuesday.
A spokesman for Right to Life of Michigan said the group supports Sheltrown's idea and wants it to become law.
Under Michigan law, medical care cannot be withheld from a patient unless he or she has specifically asked that it be withheld. Those wishes can be carried out through a living will or by giving a trusted family member or friend durable power of attorney for medical decisions.
Detroit attorney Kay Felt, an expert in end-of-life issues, questioned the need for new laws protecting patients from unscrupulous decisions. She said family members and physicians already can block a decision to withhold treatment from a patient if motives are suspect.
The problem with adultery is proving it.
"Unless people are living openly together, it's a very tough thing to prove," Felt said.
House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, said support for Sheltrown's legislation would depend on its wording.
DeRoche, an insurance executive before his election to the Legislature, noted that insurance policy payouts can be denied under a "moral hazard" clause.
"Do we have a moral hazard with a person on life support, and the spouse might stand to benefit by moving on with his life or getting remarried or doing other things if his wife was not to live?
"We can't legislate morality, but where conflicts exist, we need to take them seriously."
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