{"data":{"id":"us-il/755-ilcs-40-5","jurisdiction":"us-il","citation":"755 ILCS 40/5","heading":"Legislative findings and purposes.","body":"(a) Findings.\nThe legislature recognizes that all persons have a fundamental right to make decisions relating to their own medical treatment, including the right to forgo life-sustaining treatment.\nLack of decisional capacity, alone, should not prevent decisions to forgo life-sustaining treatment from being made on behalf of persons who lack decisional capacity and have no known applicable living will or power of attorney for health care.\nUncertainty and lack of clarity in the law concerning the making of private decisions concerning medical treatment and to forgo life-sustaining treatment, without judicial involvement, causes unnecessary emotional distress to the individuals involved and unduly impedes upon the individual right to forgo life-sustaining treatment.\nThe enactment of statutory guidelines for private decision making will bring improved clarity and certainty to the process for implementing decisions concerning medical treatment and to forgo life-sustaining treatment and will substantially reduce the associated emotional distress for involved parties.\n(b) Purposes.\nThis Act is intended to define the circumstances under which private decisions by patients with decisional capacity and by surrogate decision makers on behalf of patients lacking decisional capacity to make medical treatment decisions or to terminate life-sustaining treatment may be made without judicial involvement of any kind.\nThis Act is intended to establish a process for that private decision making.\nThis Act is intended to clarify the rights and obligations of those involved in these private decisions by or on behalf of patients.\nThis Act is not intended to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or assisted suicide.","path":["CHAPTER 755 ESTATES","Health Care Surrogate Act."],"source_url":"https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?ActID=2111\u0026ChapterID=60\u0026ChapAct=FullText\u0026Print=True","current_through":"at least Public Act 104-790","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-15T04:46:44Z","sha256":"7e824bfe20f7b7b0af5f9ee85ca15760f0a26ecca9070b501bd9d53d0e82f555","source_id":"us-il","stale":false,"prev":"us-il/755-ilcs-40-1","next":"us-il/755-ilcs-40-10"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}