Reply #67: The judicial decision scares me [View All]

Even though I am part of a heterosexual couple, my decisions about my end of life care are very different than my husband's. This decision worries me since it seems that under this ruling my husband could over ride my directives or the instructions of my health advocate - who I have chosen to be other than my husband because of our differing philosophies.

On the other hand, that means that no matter what my husband puts down, I can over ride his wishes to do what I consider reasonable and proper, rather than his choices. But I still this court decision is wrong.

And for those who are confused by what I said above - I do not believe in uselessly prolonging life if there is brain death or only a life of agony. My dear husband believes in prolonging life as long as their is a flicker of it left in the body. As I said, I have chosen a health care advocate who holds the same philosophy as I do. In the last fifteen years, every time I have gone in for an operation, I make sure the doctor and the surgical center have a copy of my health care directive and health advocate forms - and make sure that they understand that if things went terribly wrong, my husband is NOT the person to make the big decisions.

I have warned my husband that he needs to pick an advocate to stand up for his wishes since I will be very tempted to let him go if he is past all hope and in pain. I don't think he has so far.