Saturday, November 12, 2005
Thoughts on Living Wills
Edited from zenit.org:
Living wills got a lot of attention as Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman, died a lingering death after her feeding tube was pulled.
One critic says those living wills are not always the answer to avoid a contentious end-of-life dilemma. Deborah Sturm, a registered nurse and member of National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, addressed the problems living wills pose.
A living will is a type of health-care advance directive: written instructions individuals establish regarding what they do or do not want for medical treatment in the event they cannot speak for themselves.
"The standard living-will documents that are advocated by those who support euthanasia have a general presumption for death," Sturm told ZENIT. "The language is often ambiguous and can be interpreted by a health-care provider in a variety of ways that a patient did not intend. Some living wills allow for the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration -- which, of course, includes food and water -- if a patient is comatose or vegetative," she said. "In other words, a living will can kill a person."
Sturm suggested seeking out living-will documents that have a "general presumption for life" from pro-life agencies such as National Right to Life, the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force and the American Life League.
"All of these documents involve designation of a health-care proxy who speaks for the patient when they cannot speak for themselves," Sturm said. "The proxy should be someone who is knowledgeable about the patient's pro-life worldview and who is solidly grounded in a pro-life worldview themselves."
Living wills got a lot of attention as Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman, died a lingering death after her feeding tube was pulled.
One critic says those living wills are not always the answer to avoid a contentious end-of-life dilemma. Deborah Sturm, a registered nurse and member of National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, addressed the problems living wills pose.
A living will is a type of health-care advance directive: written instructions individuals establish regarding what they do or do not want for medical treatment in the event they cannot speak for themselves.
"The standard living-will documents that are advocated by those who support euthanasia have a general presumption for death," Sturm told ZENIT. "The language is often ambiguous and can be interpreted by a health-care provider in a variety of ways that a patient did not intend. Some living wills allow for the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration -- which, of course, includes food and water -- if a patient is comatose or vegetative," she said. "In other words, a living will can kill a person."
Sturm suggested seeking out living-will documents that have a "general presumption for life" from pro-life agencies such as National Right to Life, the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force and the American Life League.
"All of these documents involve designation of a health-care proxy who speaks for the patient when they cannot speak for themselves," Sturm said. "The proxy should be someone who is knowledgeable about the patient's pro-life worldview and who is solidly grounded in a pro-life worldview themselves."
