Living Wills - Will to Live
by: Jerry Price - Jan 9, 2006 - comment
“An 89 year-old woman who suffered a debilitating stroke is being denied life-sustaining food and water by her family and doctors—a court said it was okay because Doris Smith signed a living will. The daughter of the woman argues, however, that her mother never intended to be starved to death when she signed the legal document before her stroke.
“‘Most people have no idea that when it states in a Living Will/Power of Attorney that no further medical treatment will be provided in certain circumstances that it means they will also be denied food and fluids,’ according to Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. ‘The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is called regularly by people who have no intention of granting their doctor or family members the right to dehydrate and starve them to death and yet have a Living Will/Power of Attorney document that would do just that.’”
Louisiana Court Allows Family to Withdraw Life-Sustaining Nutrition, Hydration from Mother, August 23, 2004 [Accessed August 25, 2005]
With all of the modern advancements in medical technology, more and more people are being placed on some kind of artificial life support system (i.e., ventilators or feeding tubes) prior to death. That being the case, end-of-life decisions may be made that do not coincide with the wishes of a patient if that person becomes unable to communicate. Some kind of advanced directive (AD) that details a person’s wishes concerning medical treatment would seem to be advisable. Standard forms are available in most, if not all, states that allow for advanced directives.
But many states define a terminal illness to include such things as “kidney failure from which you’ll die without treatment but might survive indefinitely if treated. Forbid treatment if you’re ‘terminally ill,’ and you unwittingly cut off a potentially long life.” However, only a few states have a provision that allows a person to reject certain procedures while allowing for others. For that reason, a person may not want to use the standard state form but choose a form that allows for feeding and hydration when death is not eminent from a non-treatable medical problem. The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has such an instrument called a “Will to Live” which can be downloaded from their website at http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/StatesList.html .
Burke Balch of the NRLC says, “Certainly, people should be encouraged to make their treatment wishes clear through advanced directives. But any program promoting advanced directives must allow informed and specific decisions, with at least the equal option of choosing life.”
“Make Sure ‘Life’ Is An Option,” http://www.usatoday.com , October 30, 2003 [Accessed September 14, 2005 – Access fee required]
Further Learning
Learn more about: Life, End-of-Life Issues