Living Wills Laws, Acceptance of Euthanasia
Introduction
A living will can be described as a “legal document in which a person expresses in advance his or her wishes concerning the use of artificial life support, to be referred to should the person be unable to communicate such wishes at the end of life” (“living will,” 2013). In simple words, a living wills is a legal statement that directs people about the medical treatment an individual wants to receive in the occurrence of a terminal condition that may leave him/her incapable to decide about his/her own medical circumstances. This living will carries the statement regarding the kind of treatment an individual wishes or does not wish to receive.
Law of Living Wills
As a rule, a living will is only effective when the patient’s condition is certified by two physicians to be not capable of making medical decisions. The other condition needed for the living will to go into effect is when the physicians also believe that the medical circumstances of the patient are in the guiding principles that the state’s living-will law has specified. In general, living wills are used for directing the family members, relatives, the nearest and dearest and the doctors to put an end to the life-sustaining procedures for instance intravenous supplication of food, automatic breathing apparatus or cardiopulmonary recovery that the patient would refuse if he/she were capable. However, life support may be provided constantly for an indefinite period of time with no obvious and credible verification of an individual’s living will. This continuous provision could be because of the policies of the healthcare organization, apprehension regarding legal responsibility or the moral beliefs of a doctor even if the relatives think that the patient would have rejected the mechanical aid or other life-sustaining measures. It is also important to mention here that living wills are frequently used together with a health-care alternative by which an earlier selected individual is authorized to formulate health-care decisions if any unexpected event of powerlessness occurs (“living will,” 2013).
Purpose of Living wills
It is important for individuals who formulate living wills for themselves to review them once in a while to make certain that their wishes are reflected properly. This also helps in any amendments or changes that can be done whenever the individual wishes by giving notifications to the concerned healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations. It is also exceedingly imperative to provide living will’s copies to the loved ones and one’s physicians and hospital authorities.
Among all the advance directives, a living will is probably the one that is acknowledged widely. A living will provides instructions which are followed in case a person becomes ill, suffer any brain damage or permanently unconscious. The core purpose of a living will is to take control over the conditions that may or may not continue. The life of a patient will be prolonged by the support of the life support methods incase he/she is diagnosed as suffering from an incurable disease. A living will is a declaration of the desire for a natural death (Hanson, 1997).
Use of Living Wills
Living will enables the person to describe the treatment kind he/she desires to have in some specific conditions. A very common exercise is to deliberately allow the doctor to terminate the use of extraordinary life support equipments. That includes the use of artificial nutrition or hydration as well. A very important point that needs to be understood is that the living will does not allow any nomination of the person who can take decisions of such nature on someone’s behalf. A living will is taken as a means to just articulate the preferences while the person is clearly and mentally able to communicate well. The very commonly used format of a living will used in the U.S. enables the declarent to articulate what kind of care he or she desires if there is a condition of incurable disease or condition (Hanson, 1997).
A living will can only come into action when a person is terminally ill and it cannot predict each type of medical circumstances that may come up. Due to such limitations of the living will, most people also take help from a power of attorney that is durable for health care (Hanson, 1997). Living wills or advance directives do give capable persons a sense of control over future decisions in case they become incompetent. In this way, they are a powerful tool to impact the decisions of the healthcare professionals and policies of healthcare organizations. By expanding the scope of personal independence to the situations in which the decisions cannot be directly taken, the living will empowers people to take control of the future decisions. The individual when capable determines the course of his/her life when incapable. This gives the assurance that the person will later be taken in the light of his/her previously expressed decisions. In addition to that, the assurance that excessive handling will not be imposed at the later stages reassures those afraid of an incapacitated future. Another advantage is that if the living will is specific enough, it provides a practical rule for non-treatment choices that appears clearly to respect autonomy without compromising the respect for incompetent patients (Robertson, 1991).
Importance of Living Wills
In spite of fighting with questions about the quality or worth of an ineffectual patient’s life, treatment can be stopped if the directives specify that. Living wills have played an important role in achieving this present stage of recognition. The loved ones and family members, however, experience an emotional trauma during such situations as it is out of their hands to take care of the patient by respecting his/her wishes contained in the living will. Physicians are normally very reluctant to follow the advance directives. In addition to that, the living will laws are usually been limited to barely define “terminal conditions,” which leaves the other debilitating conditions outside of their view (Robertson, 1991).
Central issues of Living Will
Living wills have played a very important role in the policy and ethical debate for the treatment decisions of incompetent patients. But there is a need to move beyond and think about the central issues. These central issues are that what kind of quality of life is worth the protection. Though not openly acknowledged, such assessments are now happening with patients who were never capable. They are also shaping in the rising debate over provision of medical resources at the end of life (Robertson, 1991).
Worldwide use of Living Will
In United States of America, any person can make a living will without the supervision of physician and it still binds. Not every average person is aware of the medical nature of the illness, to make an informed choice about indefinite future treatment but they are still urged to do so. In other countries, however, there are more medical interventions required when making a living will. The contesting parties have to prove it is invalid or not. Thus, it won’t be incorrect to state that “living Wills can help doctors and patients talk about dying and this can open the door to a positive, caring approach to death” (Mirarchi, 2006).
Living Wills Upholds a Person’s autonomy
Living wills claim to uphold a person’s autonomy and this is the reason that the living wills are popular with pro-Euthanasia groups. The person feels pretty sure that their wishes are being heard. Legal personnel and many other groups promote advance directives as they are of the view that it is better to have something written and documented for future use. In United States, the health professionals support and advocate the living wills. The reason is that the people normally gain confidence and their surrogates will also understand the choices they would have chosen in case a medical situation arises. It is also helpful for the relatives of the patient when they were forced to turn off the life support (Mirarchi, 2006).
Living Will Saves the Expenses
Living wills can also benefit the relatives and families of the patient in saving the expenses. These claims have no bearing on the well being of the patient or accuracy of fulfillment with the preferences of the health. There are many ways to ensure that the living wills are not misunderstood or reconstructed. It is exceedingly important that the patient’s medical condition be discussed with the doctor before making the living will so that it clearly reflects the medical condition. In addition to that, people should keep their living will frequently updated. Patients and the families need to be informed about the living wills. Risks and benefits associated with the living will must be properly communicated. In addition to that, the most important point is to get the clear understanding of the differences between the treatable and terminal diseases (Mirarchi, 2006).
Eliminates the Risk of Suicide
To cut a long story short, though living wills are a personal decision, sometimes such cases could direct a person to assisted suicide as happened in the case of Kerrie Wooltorton in 2007. The lady made use of a living will and ordered her physicians not to try to save her from dying when she poisoned herself intentionally. Such cases have encouraged media to take notice of advance decisions or self-styled ‘living wills’. Euthanasia is also given encouragement due to living wills. Euthanasia raises to the act through which a person is put to a painless and easy death. This term has been initiated from the Greek expression for “fine demise”. However, scientific developments and evolutions in the medicinal field have now increased the possibility of extended life in patients who are hopeless about recovery. Thus, life can be preserved by using unusual means like intravenous nourishment, respirators, and artificial life-saving machines. Thus, the term negative euthanasia has been derived referring to this life-saving process. On the other hand, the term positive euthanasia has ascended due to the actions that are taken to cause death actively. The third term i.e. passive euthanasia is used in conditions where antibiotics, drugs, or surgery (common treatment methods) are suspended. It is also used in situations when there is a supplication of a large quantity of lethal pain medication which is considered necessary. Passive euthanasia has been regarded as a common practice among U.S. hospitals and physicians since the beginning of the 20th century.
Acknowledgement of Euthanasia through Living Wills
The suffering of an individual is therefore ended via active voluntary euthanasia which enables him/her to taste death nobly and peacefully. This act removes his/her fear of facing a humiliating and degrading death. If his/her request of peaceful death is denied, such a person thinks this rejection as an unjustified denial. Many people believe that a request for euthanasia by a person who is in extreme pain is reasonable and must be respected. A large number of people today support some forms of euthanasia. Moreover, a good number of modern-day philosophers regard euthanasia as a morally defensible act. Thus, people opt to euthanasia through living wills that is to be discouraged as far as my opinion is concerned.
Conclusion
The practice of assisted suicide is currently a particularly debated matter and it is difficult for someone to come up with a clear solution to the problem. There are a lot of cases when this operation seems to be perfectly normal, there are numerous other cases involving patients who are not able to thoroughly comprehend the consequences of such an act. Although both sides have reasons of their own, I think that there should be a firm public policy that should make the act of killing oneself with or without assistance as difficult to accomplish as possible. The access to means of suicide must be strongly restricted so that the suicide rate can be reduced. Most necessarily, it is imperative to educate the general public about the various legal options that are available concerning the end-of-life care. They must also be known about the consequences of any changes in laws that govern such a health care.
It is difficult and at the same time, quite threatening to directly asses the quality of life and is too politically disruptive to be done very openly. In this case, these questions will carry on to be framed in terms of prior directives when the directives are lacking. There is another best solution which is an approach to always treat. But the living will’s conceptual weaknesses bounds its convenience and it is of very little help where past directives or wishes cannot be determined. With the wide acceptance gained by the advance directives, there are inherent problems as well. There is still a very difficult task of determining which incompetent states of existence are to protect and which not to protect (Robertson, 1991).
References
Hanson, R. K. (1997). Living Wills and Other Health-Care Directives. The CPA Journal, 67(3), 53+. Retrieved August 11, 2013, from http://www.questia.com/read/1P3-11264099/living-wills-and-other-health-care-directives
living will from The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. (2013). Questia. Retrieved August 11, 2013, from http://www.questia.com/read/1E1-livingwi/living-will
Mirarchi, F. L. (2006, December 1). When Living Wills Become Health Hazards.Medical Economics , 83 (23), 71+. Retrieved August 11, 2013, from http://www.questia.com/read/1P3-1183351901/when-living-wills-become-health-hazards
Robertson, J. A. (1991). Second Thoughts on Living Wills. The Hastings Center Report, 21(6), 6+. Retrieved August 11, 2013, from http://www.questia.com/read/1G1-11593202/second-thoughts-on-living-wills