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You're right about living wills. Do you know how much legal weight the Right To Life Directive might have. The options listed in the article all seem to have down sides. I wonder if just a straightforward power of attorney would carry more weight. I'm not even sure someone can have your power of attorney unless you're deemed incompetent.

I really wish there was a way to guarantee your protection.

A power of attorney is a document that allows you to appoint a person or organization to handle your affairs while you're unavailable or unable to do so. The person or organization you appoint is referred to as an "Attorney-in-Fact" or "Agent."

General Power of Attorney - authorizes your Agent to act on your behalf in a variety of different situations.

Special Power of Attorney - authorizes your Agent to act on your behalf in specific situations only.

Health Care Power of Attorney - allows you to appoint someone to make health care decisions for you if you're incapacitated.

"Durable" Power of Attorney -The general, special and health care powers of attorney can all be made "durable" by adding certain text to the document. This means that the document will remain in effect or take effect if you become mentally incompetent.

Revocation of Power of Attorney - allows you to revoke a power of attorney document.

The difference between a Living Will and a Power of Attorney is that the LW is YOU making YOUR own decisions ahead of time. The POA is YOU assigning SOMEONE ELSE to make decisions for you when you become incapacitated.

The more clear you are with your LW, the less likely there will be conflict or confusion with an agent or others.

My husband is an attorney, he is going to look at the Advance Directive tonight. To me this is the most sound document I've seen that deals specifically with living or dying and the different circumstances that could arise.

I wouldn't sign anything without a pro-life attorney in your state looking at it. The Power of Attorney you mentioned would carry no more weight than the Directive, perhaps even less unless the specifics in the Directive are included in the POA.