Since I'm trying to fill out these living will papers today, perhaps other Freepers could advise me. How many of you have directed that you want to live as long as possible, with all possible treatments, in the event that you become as disabled as Terri Schiavo? What guides your thinking on this?
I hope I do this right.
Please read this before signing anything
http://www.catholictradition.org/targeted.htm
My thinking is on several aspects. If I become disabled like Terri, therapy will encourage the brain to heal. I would want conservative talk radio and the SciFi channel on TV played for me, since there is evidence that such stimulation would have a positive effect. I also know that new therapies will be developed that are not available now, and I'd like a chance to live until then. Even if improvement in the condition is not possible, it's highly unlikely that I'd be unhappy in that state--I have yet to see a profoundly retarded person who appeared miserable in their condition (it's the only life they know), even though I would not now choose such an existence.
Another aspect is that there often seems to be, in these cases, a relative who is more interested in the money than in the person's well-being. I want to make sure that any person advocating taking away any chance of recovery or improvement that I might have will NEVER benefit financially from it. I'd rather see my estate benefit a charity that I support than enrich a greedy relative.
One last thing, is that living wills have been twisted to justify killing a person who has become disabled. One story I saw linked to FreeRepublic involved a woman who had a stroke (I think) and became wheelchair bound. She had specified in a living will that she did not want her life prolonged in the case of a terminal illness, and her brother went to court and successfully argued that it meant that she would want to die if she were disabled. She was begging for food and water while being starved to death. You have to be very, very careful with a living will.