The case of Terri Schiavo has got a lot of folks thinking about what might happen to them should they ever fall victim to an accident or illness that leaves them unable to speak for themselves.
This touches on an issue we get a lot of queries about at Catholic Answers. We periodically get questions from people who are interested in finding out more about what the Church requires in such situations. Some are merely curious. Some are wanting to write living wills or make grants of durable power of attourney. Some are in the middle of an end of life situation with a relative.
We do what we can to help them, and often that includes getting them a copy of
by the National Catholic Bioethics Center, a group known for their thoughtfulness, fidelity to the Magisterium, and expertise in this area.
Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you a million times. I have been looking for just such a document.
+J.M.J+
This whole horrible affair has made me seriously consider writing a “living will” (or Advance Medical Directive, as the _End of Life Guide_ calls it).
I’d never wanted to write one before because I thought they were nothing but “Please Kill Me” documents. Yet it turns out that one can phrase it in such a way as to say “Please don’t directly kill me, give me food and fluids, etc.”
I found the following sample “Living Will” form online which appears to be very good, even somewhat prolife:
http://www.ilrg.com/forms/livingwill2.html
I will, of course, have to go over the wording very carefully in light of what the _End of Life Guide_ says, just to make sure, before using it.
In Jesu et Maria,
Jimmy,
Good Friday March 25th is the 10th Anniversary of Evangelium Vitae. Is it perhaps providence that the “culture of life” and the “culture of death” are being played out in the person of Theresa Schiavo?
Stale link.