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Living Wills Risky, Warns Attorney

Ever since the Terri Schiavo case, pundits, attorneys and other authority figures on radio and TV have been advising everyone, “You must have a living will!”

Don’t do it, says attorney Rita Marker.

“The people that want you to sign one are often well-meaning, but the living will is an exceptionally dangerous document,” Mrs. Marker told approximately 100 attendees at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Olney May 18.

Living wills, a type of advance medical directive, usually say something like, “If I am unable to make treatment decisions and if I have an incurable or irreversible illness that will cause my death in a relatively short time, I direct my attending physician to withhold sustaining treatment and let me die naturally.”

The living will is a legal document and as such, the words in it have specific meanings that are legally binding, said the attorney.

Marker, who is executive director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, enumerated the pitfalls.

First, she pointed out, most diseases will cause death “in a relatively short time” if not treated.  The phrase can be deadly in the hands of the wrong person.

“I was asked to testify at the Nebraska state legislature on a proposed living will bill,” Marker recalled.

“I said, ‘I’m not saying the bill will be interpreted in this way; I’m saying it could be interpreted this way.’

“One legislator told me, ‘If it can be interpreted in this way, you can be assured that it will be interpreted in this way.’”

Regarding the phrase, “I direct my attending physician to withhold life-sustaining treatment and let me die naturally,” Marker warned, “Your ‘attending physician’ is any doctor who is taking care of you.  You are giving directions and all power and authority to a possibly unknown physician.

“People think of life-sustaining treatment as all those wires and tubes and gizmos – but life-sustaining treatment includes everything, including blood pressure medication, food and fluid.”

Signing a living will is giving a blank check to an unknown physician, Marker summarized.

She cautioned that every medical facility is required by law to ask if you want a living will or if you have an advance directive.

“People are under stress when they are entering a hospital; be careful what you sign!  No health facility can require you to sign an advance directive.”

But a living will is only one type of advance directive.  Another is a durable power of attorney for health care.

“Everyone from the age of 18 should have one of these,” Marker urged.

In a durable power of attorney for health care, you designate a trusted family member or friend to make health care decisions for you if you are unable.

Most states have default statutes that say that in case of accident, the person to make decisions would be, first, the spouse, then parents, and on down in order of priority.

“But your child or spouse could have an accident in a state such as West Virginia, where a doctor could override the spouse or parent” in the absence of an advance directive, said Marker.

The person you select to hold your power of attorney, called an “agent,” does not have to be a relative, but should be someone who has the same ethical viewpoint as yourself, and who can be assertive without being combative.

It is not necessary or wise to write down specific details regarding treatment in your durable power of attorney document, Marker advised.

Rather, the agent should insist that the doctor give him the information he needs in order to give or withhold informed consent.

The International Task Force offers a durable power of attorney for health care form called the Protective Medical Decisions Document (PMDD) that can be used in many states, including Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Marker recommends that you name not only an agent to act on your behalf, but a first and a second alternative.

The PMDD says that you want treatment that is appropriate and beneficial, and that you want food and hydration unless death is imminent or the food and hydration would be futile.

“In some conditions, as a person draws closer to death, food and fluids would not help him, but would make him very uncomfortable; withholding them is not causing his death,” Marker explained.

Mrs. Marker also warned her listeners about an organization called Caring Friends.  It was previously known as the Hemlock Society, a notorious pro-euthanasia group,.

“Caring Friends will go in and talk to people, saying they will be there so the person will not be alone when they’re dying; it’s insidious,” she said.

Holding up an “exit bag,” a large plastic bag with an attached  tube, she said that they offer it to dying people who are depressed or fearful.

“You put the plastic bag on your head and insert a tube, attached to a helium tank that you buy from Toys R Us.  It causes death relatively quickly.”

Mrs. Marker’s talk at St. Peter’s Church was one of four lectures, sponsored by the Washington Archdiocese’s Pro-Life Office, that she gave at archdiocesan churches May 16-18.

Mrs. Marker, the grandmother of 19 and great-grandmother of two, is a former adjunct professor of political science and ethics and author of the book, Deadly Compassion.

For more information or to obtain a PMDD packet, see internationaltaskforce.org or call 800-958-5678.