I apologize for my absence, I was able to slide into a medical refresher course, and then the whole family came down with gastroenteritis, a disease process involving copious amounts of vomiting and dia……well, that is too much information. Anyway, I am back and will attempt to participate daily until the job calls me away again. RN

The Presumption of Life and my personal “Living Will”

by Richard Engle, President NFRA

Simply stated, I have a will to live and furthermore I believe that all persons who are alive have the will to live. I understand that reasonable people will disagree with me and I understand that I may not be considered reasonable for it. Nonetheless, I reserve my right to be unreasonable.

With the events in Florida of late, my wife thinks that we will need to get “Living Wills” to prevent judges, doctors and “loved” ones from deciding that we should be dead prior to that point at which we loose the will to live.

I challenge the premise that I have to pay a lawyer to draw up a legal document which I am not completely convinced ought to be legal.

I know many people who have “living wills” and I know that the arguments for them are numerous. Yes, it is true that they are about more than deciding under which conditions a person wishes to have medical treatment and even basic needs (like food and water) removed so as to force a death that would not otherwise come so easily.

They also deal with subjects of care during periods of incapacitation. Who do you trust to care for you and make decisions in case you are not able to do so?

I don’t condemn people who make use of these instruments, but I do condemn the argument by extension. That you would not want to live as Terri Schiavo is living does not infer that she would not. Let me suggest that there should be a “Presumption of Life” and that only the explicit action to the contrary could be used to deny that presumption.

It is inexcusable that we engage a high tech Holocaust killing of all infirm persons who were too poor or too dumb to go to a lawyer and draw up a “living will”. It was not that many years ago that these documents did not exist. At the time there was significant number of people who opposed the efforts to create them. I was among those, and my opinion has not changed. I don’t want one because I don’t believe in them.

I believe that President Bush was right on target when he addressed the issue and used the terminology “presumption of life”. The Declaration of Independence specifies the purpose of government as to protect “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

I understand that some have the convoluted idea that to pursue happiness they need to die. I will suggest that the order in which those unalienable rights are listed presumes a priority. If you wish to die, if and when you come to a certain condition, then by all means do so. I however, believe that so long as I live, I wish to continue to do so.

Surveys are being touted showing that great percentages of Americans wish not to live in a “consistent vegetative state”. Of course not! Nobody wants to live like that. It is the alternative that tends so often to sway people to live despite the circumstances.

I don’t want to live in a comatose or even a dependant state. I prefer to live as I currently do. Surveys are even suggesting that persons who define themselves as “born again” have even less of a desire to live in such a manner. As one of those born again Christians, I understand that if you do not fear death you may treasure your personal life a bit less. I also believe that so long as I am alive that there is a divine purpose for that life and I will not act today or tomorrow to minimize that purpose.

My confidence in eternity does not lead me to an eagerness to enter it. Eternity is not any longer if I enter it sooner.

Well, here is my public statement regarding my wishes in case of incapacitation.

I understand that medical practitioners have no financial obligation to give me care that my insurance, my family, charitable well-wishers, or I do not have the ability to pay for. I understand that care for me cannot endanger the care my wife needs to give to my daughter. I do not expect anyone to give me medical attention that they have no prospect of getting paid for. I do not expect and my preference is opposed to (but does not prohibit) the use of government funds in my care.

Having said that I do not grant any type of moral absolution to those that acknowledge a moral obligation to help people in need. I have a moral obligation to help people in need, and do so quite often. Fulfillment of that moral obligation has been of great value to me and I would not be opposed to helping others experience that value by being a recipient.

While I trust that my wife would be a most able guardian of my best interests I am not prepared to declare her to be such. As has been recently seen, a spouse can cease to be the person who will best care for an incapacitated person. I have no reason to believe that my wife of two decades would ever act as Mrs. Shiavo’s husband has, I nonetheless hold that the loved ones who most wish to express quality care toward the preservation and quality of life have my best interests at heart. It is quite possible that in my incapacitation a “Good Samaritan” would be the better caretaker than those I would today choose.

I do not reject any care or treatment that works toward those ends of the preservation and quality of my life. As stated the preservation is the higher priority. Having said so, I do not oblige myself to those forms of treatment nor do I oblige my estate to the financial costs thereof.

I am not afraid to die but do not encourage anyone to pursue my death. If a person acts to hasten my death they may or may not face legal implications but it is my full expectation that they will face eternal ones.

I have not considered all potentialities and if I were to do so my statement might be altered in specific, but not in principle. As I am not a young man, I have found that on occasion an opinion may have cause to be altered. As a married man, I have found that this can occur without any apparent reason. I cannot guarantee that between now and such a time as I may be incapacitated that my wishes will not be changed in significant manners. This does however, reflect my opinion at this moment and has been my view for several years.

I have access to a significant newsletter list and website and few other people (including my wife) have that access. I can express exactly what I want and can change it from time to time without great cost or difficulty. Not everyone can do as I can.

All this is said to express that our institutions need to be built on a “presumption of life” rather than a “culture of death”, as that is the only way the best interests of the great body of the populace will be served.

Said Richard Nixon @ 8:12 am | Permalink   

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