LIVING WILL
A “Living
Will” is an advance directive expressing a person’s wishes
about life-sustaining treatment should he or she become
incapable of taking responsibility for his or her own health
care. The preparation of Living Wills is becoming increasingly
common in the United States.
The purpose
of the Living Will is to protect individuals from the
indignity and suffering of treatments which attempt to extend
life inappropriately. A Living Will cannot be used to request
euthanasia (“mercy killing”). The right to a dignified death
must not be mis-translated into a right to be killed.
(see Euthanasia)
The Living
Will is intended to protect the rights of the individual. It
has the additional benefit of encouraging discussion among
patient, family and professional carers about the most
appropriate care for that individual. A copy of the Living
Will should be kept in a person’s medical records, and should
be reviewed from time to time.
A Living
Will is a signed, dated and witnessed document. A Living Will
can include a Durable Power of Attorney for health care, which
appoints a trusted “attorney-in-fact” to make medical
treatment decisions if the person is unable to do so.
A Living
Will should state clear preferences about use of life
sustaining treatments (like cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
mechanical ventilation, kidney dialysis), or invasive measures
for providing nutrition and hydration. It may also state a
preference for dying at home.
At present
the following states have enacted “Living Will statutes”:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and
the District of Columbia.
In a state
which has not yet enacted such a statute, a Living Will may
still be executed, and may serve as evidence of seriousness of
purpose and intent.
For
additional information about the general purposes and specific
wording of a Living Will, please contact:
CONCERN FOR
DYING
250 West 57th Street, Room 831
New York, NY 10107
(Telephone: 212-246-6962)
The author and publisher have taken
precautions to ensure that the information in this book is
error-free. However, readers must be guided by their own
personal and professional standards of good practice in
evaluating and applying recommendations made herein. The
contents of this book represent the views and experience of
the author, and not necessarily those of the publisher.
