Matt C. Abbott
The 'living will' and the death culture
By Matt C. Abbott
The unfolding Terri Schiavo tragedy has brought the living will legal document into the forefront of the news. The consensus of these reports: have the document prepared, unless you want to go through what Terri and her family have been going through. But is the living will really a good thing, or is it simply a tool of the pro-euthanasia movement?
Brian Clowes, PhD, author and researcher for Human Life International, asserts that it is the latter. In his excellent book The Facts of Life, Clowes has this to say about the living will:
"Many euthanasia activists consider the living will just the first step on the road to active, involuntary euthanasia of those they deem to be useless to society.... As Derek Humphry, the founder of the Hemlock Society has said: 'We have to go stage by stage, with the living will, with the power of attorney, with the withdrawal of this; we have to go stage by stage. Your side would call that the 'slippery slope'.... We would say, proceed with caution; learning as we go along how to handle this very sensitive situation.'" (p.141)
Clowes then goes on to make this keen observation: "The change from the 'sanctity of life ethic' to the 'quality of life' ethic is the most profoundly evil step a people can make. Once they make this transformation, they can justify any atrocity by disguising it behind the alluring masks of 'compassion' and 'realism.' We can truthfully say that, once a society has accepted the living will, it is already nine-tenths of the way down the road to involuntary euthanasia." (p. 142)
So why exactly would a right-to-life advocate want to avoid the living will? The primary reason, according to Clowes, is that "the person usually signs it before he knows if or when he will be incapacitated — or what the circumstances of that incapacitation will be. This means that the person cannot specify the desired details of his treatment for future medical conditions." (p. 115)
Clowes also gives the following reasons for avoiding the living will:
"Changes to or revocation of a living will depend upon an individual's condition. If he should experience a change of heart after he is incapable of communicating, he is out of luck.
"If the presiding health care professional believes the patient's wishes are the result of trauma or some other cause, he can disregard them.
"If a person would like to change or revoke his living will, he may find that it is very difficult to locate all original and duplicated copies of the document.
"The wording of the original living will may remain the same, but the law governing its application may change. For example, Florida living wills now presume that patients refuse food and water unless otherwise specified — a fundamental change from the law's original meaning." (p. 115)
A much better alternative to the living will, according to Clowes, is the Will to Live. Information on the Will to Live can be found by visiting this page: http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/index.html
The website for Human Life International is www.hli.org.
© Matt C. Abbott
The unfolding Terri Schiavo tragedy has brought the living will legal document into the forefront of the news. The consensus of these reports: have the document prepared, unless you want to go through what Terri and her family have been going through. But is the living will really a good thing, or is it simply a tool of the pro-euthanasia movement?
Brian Clowes, PhD, author and researcher for Human Life International, asserts that it is the latter. In his excellent book The Facts of Life, Clowes has this to say about the living will:
"Many euthanasia activists consider the living will just the first step on the road to active, involuntary euthanasia of those they deem to be useless to society.... As Derek Humphry, the founder of the Hemlock Society has said: 'We have to go stage by stage, with the living will, with the power of attorney, with the withdrawal of this; we have to go stage by stage. Your side would call that the 'slippery slope'.... We would say, proceed with caution; learning as we go along how to handle this very sensitive situation.'" (p.141)
Clowes then goes on to make this keen observation: "The change from the 'sanctity of life ethic' to the 'quality of life' ethic is the most profoundly evil step a people can make. Once they make this transformation, they can justify any atrocity by disguising it behind the alluring masks of 'compassion' and 'realism.' We can truthfully say that, once a society has accepted the living will, it is already nine-tenths of the way down the road to involuntary euthanasia." (p. 142)
So why exactly would a right-to-life advocate want to avoid the living will? The primary reason, according to Clowes, is that "the person usually signs it before he knows if or when he will be incapacitated — or what the circumstances of that incapacitation will be. This means that the person cannot specify the desired details of his treatment for future medical conditions." (p. 115)
Clowes also gives the following reasons for avoiding the living will:
"Changes to or revocation of a living will depend upon an individual's condition. If he should experience a change of heart after he is incapable of communicating, he is out of luck.
"If the presiding health care professional believes the patient's wishes are the result of trauma or some other cause, he can disregard them.
"If a person would like to change or revoke his living will, he may find that it is very difficult to locate all original and duplicated copies of the document.
"The wording of the original living will may remain the same, but the law governing its application may change. For example, Florida living wills now presume that patients refuse food and water unless otherwise specified — a fundamental change from the law's original meaning." (p. 115)
A much better alternative to the living will, according to Clowes, is the Will to Live. Information on the Will to Live can be found by visiting this page: http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/index.html
The website for Human Life International is www.hli.org.
© Matt C. Abbott
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