|
|
Article: End-of-life ethics: what is 'artificial means' and what is nonnegotiable, humane care?(Medicine)
- Article from:
- Sojourners Magazine
- Article date:
- August 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Sojourners. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
As anyone who has undergone major surgery might attest, medical technology available to keep the human body functioning through trauma, treatment, and healing--means that we often take for granted today--would have been viewed as little short of a miracle even a few decades ago.
But many of us also assert that we would not want to be "kept alive by tubes" if we were in the final days of a terminal illness or considered to be in a deep state of unconsciousness with no hope of recovery. A "living will"--a written declaration of the treatment one does or does not want to receive if circumstances leave one unable to communicate--is one way to make this desire known. ...