Live and Let Die

‘IF WE put dogs out of their misery, we should be at least as kind to human beings.” That sentiment, voiced by a supporter of the Hemlock Society, may seem gross, but it has surprising resonance with, for instance, the citizens of Michigan who support “the suicide doctor,” Jack Kevorkian. In its current phase, the “right to die” debate goes back more than twenty years. Most states have now enacted “living will” and “health-care proxy” laws. The living will specifies what kinds of life support are to be withdrawn or withheld in the event of mental incompetency; health-care proxy allows patients to appoint someone else to make decisions for them.

The first living-will law, enacted by California in 1976, authorized only the refusal of extraordinary measures in cases of advanced terminal illness. Laws have now been greatly expanded to allow the withdrawal of basic forms of care such as food and fluids from patients who are not “terminal” in the traditional sense. The federal Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 requires hospitals to inform patients of their rights under state laws. Today the “right to die” movement advocates “automatic proxy” statutes that would give a designated person broad powers to make life-and-death decisions for the incompetent patient who never appointed a proxy or signed a living will.

RJ

About the Author

Richard John Neuhaus

‘IF WE put dogs out of their misery, we should be at least as kind to human beings.” That sentiment, voiced by a supporter of the Hemlock Society, may seem gross, but it has surprising resonance with, for instance, the citizens of Michigan who support “the suicide doctor,” Jack Kevorkian. In its current phase, the “right to die” debate goes back more than twenty years. Most states have now enacted “living will” and “health-care proxy” laws. The living will specifies what kinds of life support are to be withdrawn or withheld in the event of mental incompetency; health-care proxy allows patients to appoint someone else to make decisions for them.

The first living-will law, enacted by California in 1976, authorized only the refusal of extraordinary measures in cases of advanced terminal illness. Laws have now been greatly expanded to allow the withdrawal of basic forms of care such as food and fluids from patients who are not “terminal” in the traditional sense. The federal Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 requires hospitals to inform patients of their rights under state laws. Today the “right to die” movement advocates “automatic proxy” statutes that would give a designated person broad powers to make life-and-death decisions for the incompetent patient who never appointed a proxy or signed a living will.