Are you for or against living wills? Why?

Answer 1

A living will is particularly important in order to specify:

* Your wishes should you be incapacitated and on life support
* Who should make decisions for you about critical care if you are incapacitated
* If you have children, who should care for them in your absence
* Who should manage your finances (i.e. executor)
* What should be done with your body

And when you have one, make sure to carry a card in your wallet/purse with contact information for the people you have named and your attorney so it can work for you - and of course share important details with the people you have trusted on your behalf.

Does anybody else REALLY know where you stand on these questions? Do YOU even know where you stand? The other great thing about preparing a living will is that it forces you to consider each of these difficult issues.

Answer 2

Definitely for. Out of principle, you should always prepare a will while you're able. Getting things ready in case you have an accident will make things simpler, and possibly less painful, for the survivors.

A living will's including provisions in case you don't die, but might wish you actually had is in the same order of far sightedness, and enables you to make YOUR voice heard, instead of having those left behind to try and convince the rest that each is saying what you really wanted.

Answer 3

"For or against" -- meaning, do I want one personally? Or do I think the law should or should not recognize them?

Living wills allow a person to set forth their decisions in writing, and in advance, in the event of a future medical problems.

If we grant that individuals have the right to make medical decisions about their own bodies, then setting forth those decisions in writing (just in case you're not conscious later) only makes sense.

Answer 4

I am totally for them. The Terry Schiavo case is a perfect example why. I don't want somebody to keep my body alive for 17+ years... And anyone else who feels that way would want to make it known to everyone so that the fight wouldn't happen as it did in Terry Schiavo's case. On the other hand, if you were a person who would want to be kept alive for 17+ years even if you were brain dead, then also you would want that in writing so that someone didn't end up pulling the plug on you.

Answer 5

For. I don't want to be hooked up to machines or tubes just to keep the brainwaves going or keeping food in me if that's the only way I will survive. That is no life. I would rather have quality of life than quantity.

Answer 6

Very much for them.

I think everyone, young or old, needs to set down and say what they would like done in the even that they become medically incapacitated and cannot speak for themselves. Leaving up to the families is cruel to them, and very difficult for all in involved.

Answer 7

It's 100% a good idea. Whether you want to be kept alive on machines or allowed to die naturally, a living will makes your wishes known.

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Answer 8

More against than for. My reason is that people can change their minds, and that not all illnesses are alike. Another reason would be that family could fight the living will. Look at how many people have laid quietly in comas for years--presumed brain-dead by specialists--and have woken up, just fine and dandy!!! No one is perfect, and mistakes are made.