Protecting Yourself Properly - a 'Living Will' or a 'Will to Live'

Why Not Sign a Living Will Instead of the Will to Live?

Many people who simply do not want what they see as a lot of medical technology prolonging the last few hours or days of their lives when they are terminally ill sign living wills. If you do, in many states you may not know what you're really signing.

Webster's Dictionary defines "terminal" as "of or in the final stages of a fatal disease." And this is what the ordinary person thinks: that somebody who is "terminally ill" is someone who will inevitably die, whose death cannot be prevented by medical treatment.

But in many states, that is not what it means. Instead, for the purposes of the living will you are legally in a "terminal condition" even if your life could be saved--so as to live indefinitely--by medical treatment, so long as you would still have a permanent disability of some kind.

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This is a MUST read -

The bottom line is this: if you are someone who doesn't want medical technology to prolong your last hours, but who also doesn't want to be starved or allowed to die just because you have a disability, your wishes will be far more likely to be respected if you sign a properly prepared Will to Live than if you sign a living will.

Why the Need for a "Will to Live"?

In many states, the "living will" really means:
- you may be starved and dehydrated if you cannot swallow on your own

- you will be denied life-saving medical treatment even if you could live indefinitely if you have disabilities a doctor or court think make your life not worth living.

Download a "Will to Live" now for your State (from the National Right to Life Committee)

American Life League is another excellent source.
See "The Loving Will: An ethical alternative to 'living will' documents"