N.M. Stat. § 12-2-4 (2026)

A. For all medical, legal and statutory purposes, death occurs when an individual
has sustained either:

        (1)   irreversible cessation of circulatory or respiratory functions; or

        (2)   irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain
stem.

   B. A determination of death shall be made in accordance with accepted medical
standards.
   C. Death is to be pronounced pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A of this
section before artificial means of supporting circulatory or respiratory functions are
terminated and before any vital organ is removed for purposes of transplantation,
therapy, research or education in compliance with the provisions of the Jonathan
Spradling Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act [Chapter 24, Article 6B NMSA 1978].

    D. The definition of death set forth in Subsection A of this section is to be utilized for
all purposes in this state, including civil and criminal actions, notwithstanding any other
law to the contrary.

History: 1978 Comp., § 12-2-4, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 174, § 1; 2007, ch. 323, §
26.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1993, ch. 174, § 1 repealed former 12-2-4 NMSA
1978, as enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 168, § 1, relating to death defined, and enacted a
new section, effective July 1, 1993.

The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, provided that death is to be pronounced
before any vital organ is removed for purposes of therapy, research or education and
changed the name of the act.

Law reviews. — For lecture, "Euthanasia and the Right to Die: Nancy Cruzan and New
Mexico," see 20 N.M.L. Rev. 675 (1990).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 40 Am. Jur. 2d Homicide § 1.5.

Homicide: physician's withdrawal of life supports from comatose patient, 47 A.L.R.4th
18.

25 C.J.S. Death § 1.