What's happening
This bill allows New Yorkers to indicate a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order on their driver's license or state ID card applications.
Why it matters
Makes it easier for individuals to communicate their DNR wishes in emergencies. By adding DNR status to driver’s licenses and state ID cards, first responders can quickly and clearly identify a person’s end-of-life preferences, especially in situations where traditional documents or bracelets might not be available or visible.
Standardizes consent and safeguards for DNR designation. The bill ensures that only adults with decision-making capacity can give DNR consent through license/ID applications, and clarifies that inaction (skipping the question or not checking the box) does not imply consent. It also prevents minors from accidentally or improperly consenting to a DNR.
Reduces confusion and legal ambiguity for emergency personnel. By explicitly requiring EMS and healthcare workers to recognize a DNR on a license/ID as valid, the bill removes uncertainty and potential liability about whether to honor the order, helping avoid unwanted or traumatic resuscitation attempts.
Empowers personal autonomy at a critical moment. The option to add a DNR indication to widely carried forms of identification gives New Yorkers a practical, state-sanctioned tool to assert control over their medical care preferences at the most urgent times, potentially reducing unwanted medical interventions and supporting individual rights.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Add DNR Option to Licenses
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
DNR Option on State IDs
In Assembly Committee · Transportation · Sponsor Carrie Woerner
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2653
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 28, 2019
Introduced by Sen. JORDAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing do not resuscitate orders on drivers' licenses and identification cards
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 2994-bb of the public health law, as added by chapter 8 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
2. A nonhospital order not to resuscitate may be issued (a) during hospitalization to take effect after hospitalization, [or may be issued] (b) for a person who is not a patient in, or a resident of, a hospital, (c) on an application or renewal form of a driver's license, or (d) on a non-driver identification card application or renewal form.
§ 2. Section 2994-cc of the public health law is amended by adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
6. An adult with decision-making capacity may consent to a nonhospital order not to resuscitate on an application or renewal form of a driver's license or on a non-driver identification card application or renewal form. Consent shall be governed by sections four hundred ninety and five hundred two of the vehicle and traffic law.
§ 3. The opening paragraph of section 2994-ee of the public health law, as added by chapter 8 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
Obligation to honor a nonhospital order not to resuscitate. Emergency medical services personnel, home care services agency personnel, hospice personnel, or hospital emergency services personnel who are provided with a nonhospital order not to resuscitate, [or] who identify the standard bracelet on the patient's body, or who identify a nonhospital order not to resuscitate on an individual's driver's license or non-driver
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01204-01-9
S. 2653 2
identification card shall comply with the terms of such order; provided, however, that:
§ 4. Section 490 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
2-a. Order to not resuscitate designation. The commissioner shall ensure that space is provided on the application so that the applicant may consent to or decline a nonhospital order not to resuscitate pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-cc of the public health law and that the following is stated on the application in clear and conspicuous type:
"You must fill out the following section: Would you like to consent to a do-not-resuscitate order which directs emergency medical services personnel, home care services agency personnel, hospice personnel and hospital emergency services personnel not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event that you suffer cardiac or respiratory arrest? Check box for 'yes' or 'skip this question'."
Failure to check a "yes" or checking "skip this question" shall not be construed to imply a wish to consent to an order not to resuscitate. In the case of an applicant under eighteen years of age, checking "yes" shall not constitute consent to an order not to resuscitate. Where an applicant has previously consented to an order not to resuscitate, checking "skip this question" or failing to check a box shall not impair that consent.
§ 5. Section 502 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
1-a. Order to not resuscitate designation. The commissioner shall ensure that space is provided on the application so that the applicant may consent to or decline a nonhospital order not to resuscitate pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-cc of the public health law and that the following is stated on the application in clear and conspicuous type:
"You must fill out the following section: Would you like to consent to a do-not-resuscitate order which directs emergency medical services personnel, home care services agency personnel, hospice personnel and hospital emergency services personnel not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event that you suffer cardiac or respiratory arrest? Check box for 'yes' or 'skip the question'."
Failure to check a "yes" or checking "skip the question" shall not be construed to imply a wish to consent to an order not to resuscitate. In the case of an applicant under eighteen years of age, checking "yes" shall not constitute consent to an order not to resuscitate. Where an applicant has previously consented to an order not to resuscitate, checking "skip this question" or failing to check a box shall not impair that consent.
§ 6. Subdivision 1 of section 504 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new paragraph (a-2) to read as follows:
(a-2) Every license or renewal thereof shall contain a distinguishing mark and adequate space upon which consent to a nonhospital order not to resuscitate pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-cc of the public health law, by the licensee shall be recorded and shall contain such other information and shall be issued in such form as the commissioner shall determine; provided, however, every license or renewal thereof issued to a person consenting to a nonhospital order not to resuscitate shall have prominently printed upon the front of such license or renewal thereof the statement "D.N.R." in notably distinctive print or format.
S. 2653 3
§ 7. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law; provided that the commissioner of motor vehicles may implement sections four, five, and six of this act before that date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law and the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing do not resuscitate orders on drivers' licenses and identification cards
Purpose
The purpose of this legislation is to allow individuals who apply for a driver's license or identification card to provide another form of notice to emergency personnel with respect to their wishes not to resus- citate. Similar to the current law covering non-hospital orders, once emergency personnel are provided with the directive found on a license or identification card, they must comply with the individual's direc- tives.
Summary of provisions
Section 1. The bill amends the public health law to allow for a non-hos- pital order not to resuscitate to be issued on an application or renewal form of a driver's license, or on a non-driver identification card application or renewal form.
Read the full memo (632 words)
Section 2 amends the public health law to allow for an adult with deci- sion making capacity to consent to a non-hospital order not to resusci- tate on an application or renewal form of a driver's license or on a non-driver identification card or renewal form.
Section 3 amends the public health law to direct that emergency medical services personnel, home care services agency personnel, hospice person- nel, or hospital emergency services personnel who identify a non-hospi- tal order not to resuscitate on an individual's driver's license or non-driver identification card shall comply with the terms of such order.
Sections 4 and 5 amend the vehicle and traffic law to allow on the application for a driver's license or in clear and conspicuous writing, an individual would be required to check either "yes" or "skip this question: when answering this question "Would you like to consent to a do not resuscitate order which directs emergency services personnel, home care services agency personnel, hospice personnel and hospital emergency services personnel not to attempt cardiopulmonary resusci- tation in the event that you suffer cardiac or respiratory arrest?" The bill also provides that failure to check a "yes" or "skip this question" shall not be interpreted to imply a wish to consent to an order not to resuscitate. In the case of an applicant under eighteen years of age, checking "yes" shall not constitute consent to an order not to resusci- tate.
Section 6 amends the vehicle and traffic law to provide that every license or renewal shall contain a distinguishing mark and adequate space upon which consent to a non-hospital order not to resuscitate shall be recorded and issued in an form as the commissioner shall deter- mine.
Justification
Under New York law, a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order provides instruc- tion to medical professionals not to perform emergency treatment when an individual's heartbeat or breathing stops. This directive prohibits medical personnel from initiating emergency procedures to restart an individual's heart or lungs. Adults 18 or older can get a hospital or non-hospital order which must be honored by medical personnel. Current- ly, a Hospital DNR wish can be made known in a health care proxy, living will or state approved form. A Non-Hospital DNR order must be recorded on a state specific form. However, if an individual goes into cardiac arrest out of state or a family member does not readily have access to provide proof of the individual's wishes or if the individual is inca- pacitated outside of a medical facility, a DNR designation on a license would clearly convey their wishes.
Legislative history
2017-18: Referred to Health
2015-16: Referred to Health
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
The act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become law; provided that the commissioner of motor vehicles may imple- ment sections four, five and six of this act before that date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.