Will to Live preferable to Living Will

In October 2003, the name Terri Schiavo made the news. Her story is familiar to most, so I will just remind you of its highlights. In February 1990 Schiavo collapsed at home under questionable circumstances. Her brain was deprived of oxygen for some six to eight minutes, and she suffered severe brain damage. In 1992, her husband Michael was awarded more than $2 million in three separate malpractice suits. This money was to be used for Terri’s care and rehabilitation. Instead, as soon as the money was awarded, Michael “remembered” that Terri had expressed her wish not to be kept alive by artificial means, and his long crusade to have Terri killed began. It is important to remember that Terri is not hooked to any life support equipment, she just needs a feeding tube. On Oct. 15, 2003, Terri’s feeding tube was removed. Six days later, the Florida Legislature passed “Terri’s Law” authorizing Gov. Bush to order the feeding tube reinserted, which he immediately did. Soon afterwards, Michael Schiavo challenged the constitutionality of Terri’s Law. In September 2004, the Florida Supreme Court by unanimous vote ruled Terri’s Law unconstitutional. And in January 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Bush’s appeal, opening the door for the removal of Schiavo’s feeding tube.

Schiavo’s story is all the more sinister when one considers that her estranged husband has been engaged to another woman since 1997, has been living with her and has two children by her. On the other hand, all that Terri’s parents are asking is that Michael grants her a divorce, allowing them to care for their daughter. They have even offered for Michael to keep what’s left of the settlement money, much of which is already spent, although not in rehabilitation for Terri but in lawyers to bring about her demise.

Is this an exceptional case or could it happen to you? Do you have a Living Will? Do you think you are safe? If so, think again. In most states, a Living Will means that you may be starved or dehydrated if you cannot swallow on your own. Or that you could be denied life-saving medical treatment if you have a disability that a doctor or court thinks make your life not worth living. Is this really what you thought you had signed?

Most people, including the writers of the Webster’s Dictionary, think of “terminal” as “in the final stages of a fatal disease,” that is to mean, a person whose death cannot be prevented by medical treatment. But in many states, you are considered to be in a terminal condition even if your life could be saved by medical treatment, so long as you have a permanent disability of some kind. One widely used “Living Will Declaration” states “If I should be in an incurable or irreversible mental or physical condition with no reasonable expectation of recovery, I direct my attending physician to withhold or withdraw treatment that merely prolongs my dying.” It sounds good, until you realize that should you have a limp that cannot be corrected, for example, you have an irreversible physical condition. If you have signed a Living Will and become unable to speak for yourself, you may be deprived of medical treatment.

Scared already? Let’s look at the definition of “medical treatment.” Again, in most states medical treatment includes food and water. A few states allow you to check off whether or not to be starved, but in the majority, you have no indication in the Living Will you signed that you are agreeing to starvation! Think back to the example of walking with a limp ... if you cannot speak for yourself and have signed a Living Will, in most states you may be deprived of water and nourishment. I very much doubt this is what you thought you were agreeing to when you signed the Living Will.

As for “merely prolongs my dying,” there’s no timeframe given, and the truth is that we are all “dying.” Literally, every life-saving medical treatment “prolongs dying” in the legal sense. Again, this is not quite what most people think their Living Wills cover.

So, what is a person to do if he or she does not want medical treatment to prolong one’s last hours, but also doesn’t want to be starved or allowed to die just because of a disability? First, get rid of your Living Will, if you have one. Then, sign a “Will to Live” which can be obtained from the National Right to Life Committee (202-626-8828) or downloaded from its Web site (www.nrlc.org). They will help you get, and sign, a Will to Live that is legal for your state. The Will to Live will protect you from being denied life-saving medical treatment (even food and water) while allowing you to reject treatment that would just prolong your life briefly if you are about to die. Now, what are you waiting for?

You're misleading everyone with this! This is from the FLorid living will:

If at any time I have a terminal condition and if my attending or treating physician and another consulting physician have determined that there is no medical probability of my recovery from such condition, 1 direct that life-prolonging procedures be withheld or withdrawn when the application of such procedures would serve only to prolong artificially the process of dying, and that I be permitted to die naturally with only the administration of medication or the performance of any medical procedure deemed necessary to provide me with comfort care or to alleviate pain.

I would rather not live than live like a vegetable in a hospital costing taxpayers money to feed, bathe and clothe me as I lose all dignity and awareness. In most cases, the patient cannot speak for themselves and the relatives make this 'tough' decision to let them live in a vegetative state losing all dignity AS LONG AS THE PATIENT STAYS IN THE HOSPITAL OR ASSISTED LIVING AND IS NOT A BURDEN ON THE FAMILY. INotherwords they ease their conscience but letting the taxpayers pay for it and letting nurses do the dirty work of taking care of this person. I think that's horribly selfish. If they want to take their 'loved' one home, that's different.

So, the bottom line is..."kill the old people when they become a burden", right?

Let me tackle one mistake at a time. You talk about "life-prolonging procedures". Water is a life-prolonging procedure, because one cannot live without it. Now, anybody with any sense would understand life-prolonging procedures as being hooked to a respirator, dyalisis machine... But you must remember that living wills are written by lawyers!

If you'd rather not "live like a vegetable in a hospital costing taxpayers money to feed, bathe and clothe" you, that is certainly your choice and that's exactly what you get with a will to live. With the living will there are strings attached.

Do you really think your parents are a burden on the family? Pray, tell me, by your reasoning isn't a newborn baby a burden too? Would you kill anybody who is a burden to you? You need to stop and think for a minute, where would you be without your parents? You wouldn't even be born! But when it's your time to "pay back" you call them a burden and get rid of them!!!

What about "letting nurses do the dirty work of taking care of this person" ? Thank goodness that most nurses are compasionate people who do their job without grudging the age of the patient. Of course, the family should be the one taking care of the elderly. But if the situation comes when the family cannot, or will not, take care of an older person then it is up to us as a compassionate society to take over. We don't throw people in the trash just because "the family should be taking care of them".

Your answer makes me think of an old C. Heston movie, where old people go to a special center when they reach a certain age. There they are "humanely" euthanized and their bodies used to produce food for the younger people. I cannot remember the title, but sometimes I feel like we are living in that time. As long as someone is productive (and wanted) everything is peachy. But beware of becoming "unwanted" or a "burden" because our society will dispose of you!

My last argument is with "easing their conscience". That's exactly what living wills are for. They ease your family's conscience when they starve or dehydrate you to death. They are not doing it to you, you chose it! Please, remember that nobody is trying to take your living will away from you. But many people are not aware of what they are signing, because they read it as if it were written in plain English, which is not. How would you feel if you signed a contract to buy a car and, after the fact, found out that you had actually signed to buy the car and the house? That's what you get with a living will, more than you bargained for. But you are still free to sign one, if you believe that is the right thing to do. But for those of us who only want to buy the car, not the house, the will to live is the way to go.

Anybody who has any questions, please check www.nrlc.org .People more knowledgable and eloquent than me will answer all your questions.

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