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Long enough for the Physicians to declare that the "quality of life" would be permanently compromised and the "patient" should be allowed to die.

But as the spouse you had final say. That's how it is in most states at least. I fail to see the problem. And surely it wasn't 15 years

Better get some more beds. The general public is still against presumption of death according to the AMA's own studies.

And unfortunately the general public, Democrats and Republicans, believe this comes at no cost, while in fact it comes either through higher taxation or higher hospital bills which are passed on through Medicare (leading to higher taxation either way)

Let me correct that statement..it's not the society or the people that want Carte blanc to kill others, it's the majority of Physicians, the insurance companies and a few wackos cheering on the sidelines for full blown euthanasia.

Yes I know. I won't even tell you about the last time I went to the doctor, only to have them offer me euthanasia over my severe head cold. It is not the majority of Physicians nor the insurance companies. Contrary to popular kooky beliefs around here of late, the general medical profession is not 'out to get us all'. And the last place I want support from is a bureaucratic government official. You believe by giving those idiots the power to prevent something, think again. The next time it may be against your opinion and you've already given them the power

Studies show that the medical profession would like that little problem called a living will to be taken care of as well.

Could you provide some of these 'studies'? And nothing from the Empire Journal or Life News. I don't take anyone seriously that calls a quack a 'Nobel Prize nominee'

Go ahead and raise my rates..they never had a problem with it before ...why now?

Ah yes, you 'conservatives' always thinking ahead. Put the insurance companies out of business and just drive us straight towards nationalized medicine in your never-ending quest to right the wrongs. And if you think nationalized medicine would support these claims, they would be even worse

Have you ever heard of a little proposal to let people pay into a medical saving account to supplement for premium health care if they choose it? It follows along the same line of thinking for private social security accounts.

Neither social security or any form of medicare should exist in the first place. But that's what differentiates Republicans and conservatives. Republicans actually believe government is good for something and can help you.

Sounds like a conservative stance to me to let those who have worked their arses off all their lives decide if they want to pay extra themselves to live on this planet for as long as they choose, in whatever condition they choose.

Um, no one is debating if you want to spend all your money on keeping a loved one alive. However, the argument is that a spouse who knows the wishes of their spouse should have the right to disconnect life support if there is no living will without government intervention

"Yes I know. I won't even tell you about the last time I went to the doctor, only to have them offer me euthanasia over my severe head cold."

Teehehehe....Cute.

Would physicians give aid-in-dying if it were legal?

http://www.togopeacefully.com/DOCTOR.html

....survey of Wisconsin physicians which found that 27% of them said they would be willing to perform euthanasia if it were legalized. Catholic and fundamentalist physicians were less likely to be willing. Family and general practice physicians were most willing ....

In 1995, the Center for Ethics in Health Care at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland surveyed 2,761 of the state’s physicians after Oregon voters passed Measure 16 allowing physician aid-in-dying. Dr. Lee reported the following numbers:

73% believed that terminally ill persons have the right to suicide;

66% believed that physician assisted suicide is ethical;

60% believed that physician assisted suicide should be legal;

46% would be willing to comply with a patient’s valid request;

21% had been asked for a lethal prescription in the past year;

7% had written a lethal prescription before Measure 16 passed.

Dr. Bachman reported that of 1,119 Michigan physicians surveyed in 1994 and 1995 40% favored a law permitting physician-assisted suicide. When asked if they themselves would be willing to participate in physician assisted suicide or in voluntary euthanasia, 52% said they would not, 13% said they might participate only in assisted suicide and 22% said they might participate in both.

The July 14, 1994, New England Journal of Medicine contained a “Special Article” entitled, “Attitudes Toward Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Among Physicians in Washington State.”

The results: of the 1,355 eligible physicians who received our questionnaire, 938 (69%) responded. Forty-eight percent of the respondents agreed with the statement that euthanasia is never ethically justified, and 42 percent disagreed. Fifty-four percent thought euthanasia should be legal in some situations, but only 33% stated they would be willing to perform euthanasia. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents agreed with the statement that physician-assisted suicide is never ethically justified, and 50 percent disagreed. Fifty-three percent thought assisted suicide should be legal in some situations, but only 40 percent stated that they would be willing to assist a patient in committing suicide.

A January 1988 poll of 7,000 physicians in Colorado polled by the Center for Health Ethics and Policy at the University of Colorado found that 14% have helped patients stockpile lethal doses of drugs; 60% had had patients for whom euthanasia would have been justified if legal; 35% would have injected a lethal drug dose had such a practice been legal.

A sample of 600 physicians in California in 1988 found that 95% of them who have been asked to hasten death agreed that such a request can be “rational.” Nearly 23% said they had already helped people die, some of them have aided three or more patients to die. Forty percent said they thought other doctors hastened the death of some patients despite the legal prohibition.

The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reported in February, 1996, that a survey of 879 doctors in adult intensive care units throughout the United States found that 96% of the doctors had discontinued medical treatment by either withdrawing or withholding treatment with the expectation that the patient would die as a result. Of the total, 85% had done so at least once in the last year.

Dying Well Network knows physicians in the Spokane, Washington area who are willing to aid terminally ill persons to hasten death, but does not connect terminally ill persons with these courageous(?)physicians. Persons seeking aid-in-dying are directed to their own physicians.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Reinhardt noted,

The Oregon AMA refrained from taking a position on a successful ballot initiative to legalize physician assisted suicide because its membership was sharply divided on whether to back or oppose the measure. Many more doctors support physician-assisted suicide but without openly advocating a change in the legal treatment of the practice. A recent study of Oregon physicians found that 60% of those who responded believed that physician-assisted suicide should be legal.