{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-21-2212","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 21-2212","heading":"Effect of subchapter.","body":"(a)\nNothing in this subchapter shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy-killing or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act to end a human life other than to permit the natural dying process.\n\n(b)\nNothing in this subchapter shall be construed to conflict with or supersede, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, approved April 17, 1986 (100 Stat. 164; 42 U.S.C. § 1395dd).\n\n(c)\nEmergency health care may be provided without consent to a patient who is certified incapacitated under § 21-2204, if no authorized person is reasonably available or if, in the reasonable medical judgment of the attending physician, attempting to locate an authorized person would cause:\n(1)\nA substantial risk of death;\n(2)\nThe health of the incapacitated individual to be placed in serious jeopardy;\n(3)\nSerious impairment to the incapacitated individual’s bodily functions; or\n(4)\nSerious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part of the incapacitated individual.","path":["Title 21. Fiduciary Relations and Persons with Mental Illness. [Enacted title]","Chapter 22. Health-Care Decisions.","Subchapter I. Durable Power of Attorney"],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/21-2212","current_through":"2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-29T05:44:07Z","sha256":"04017bd7b8bb9d9a8479250caf553b1197016bb1c09be5225c21436489dffddc","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-21-2211","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-21-2213"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}