Rep. Joni Gutierrez’s second attempt at passing a bill that would allow judges to order treatment for the mentally ill in some circumstances has been approved by the House.
Gutierrez, D-Las Cruces, introduced Kendra’s Law, which would allow judges to force mentally ill patients who are dangerous to take their medication and submit to other treatment, during the 2006 session, but it was quickly shot down.
Gutierrez worked over the summer with a wide range of people who work with mental illness and tweaked her bill, the Santa Fe New Mexican is reporting. House Bill 609 was approved Tuesday by the House on a vote of 53-13, and now heads to the Senate for consideration.
The bill allows a family member, treatment guardian, hospital director, doctor, service provider or police officer to petition a district judge to force a mentally ill person to submit to treatment, if that person is refusing treatment and may be a danger.
“I’m hopeful because we worked all summer, and we really made some substantial changes,” the newspaper quoted Gutierrez as saying.
The bill’s narrow scope, according to Health Secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham, gives it a chance at passing.
“It is much more directed at the individual’s rights and protections this go around,” she told the newspaper.
The person in question must be an adult with a mental illness who needs mandated treatment in order to prevent a situation “that would likely result in serious harm to the person or another person,” the bill states. He or she must also have refused treatment in the 10 days before the petition is filed in court.
The bill remains controversial, and the American Civil Liberties Union opposes it as an infringement on civil rights.
Gutierrez took on the cause following two highly publicized incidents in 2005.
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