Would you pull the plug?

From my own experience, and after lots of discussions, my mother has signed a Medical Directive, Health Care Proxy (my sis and me) and an DNR that are all legal documents. So we know what she wants.

I have also filled out and signed a Medical Directive and mailed a copy to my daughter. So we know about me, both psychologically and legally.

Having an unrecorded or undocumented conversation is not considered a legal directive, either medically or legally. (Remember the awful case about Terry Schiavo ?)

With a minor, things get much more complicated. Anyone who is of the age of consent should fill out these documents as well as a will.

Gail
If all the legalities were taken care of , could you do it? Would you do it?

If they make it known that they do not want to be kept on life support I think their will should be carried out. Of course it would be very difficult giving the okay to effectively let a dear loved one die.

When I write a will I’m making it expressly clear NOT to keep me alive as a vegetable. Death seems to be a much more pleasant state than eating and breathing through tubes.

With my mother, my sister and I would make a joint decision. My mother has made it very clear what is acceptable and what isn’t. So, I think we could. I know we could. I cannot speculate on any other situation.

If I were brain-dead and breathing only with the help of a machine, I’d want my family to pull the plug (and then to donate any workable organs I had.)

I would pull the plug, and if somebody asks me what would I want, please pull the plug… is an issue of quality, not quantity of life…

The only thing that would make a difference for me is the wishes of the person whose plug I am pulling, and whether I thought there was still a chance.

If it was clear that the situation was hopeless, and it was in accordance with the person’s wishes, I’d pull the plug. It probably wouldn’t be easy.

@echoopanebre – You said, “Death seems to be a much more pleasant state than eating and breathing through tubes.” The key word in there is seems. I don’t know what death has in store. Who does? How do we know what state is better for a person? And who are we to decide?

That said, I’d probably do it, following the conditions that cwilbur listed. But I’d feel like shit for doing it. It’s as much to bring closure for the living as it is to follow the wishes of the near-dead.

I think that if your loved person has outlined what s/he wants done, you have to do it -
even if you’d make a different decision yourself.

If we’re extremely lucky, we can speak frankly with the close people in our lives and talk this through, as well as get the legal stuff in place, before it becomes a crisis.

Yes.

Put yourself in THEIR shoes, you’d want them to pull the plug, wouldn’t you? It’s a tough thing, I know, ‘cause you’d feel like YOUR killing them. But you’re really doing them a favor by ending their suffering.

But are they suffering? Check out this story.

Yes, I would. No matter how hard it would be for me, I would follow the wishes of my loved one.

@shadling: Interesting case. It raises a few questions, though not directly related to this Q:

1) The mother wants to continue life support so her son can “die naturally, like God intended”, but he is being kept alive unnaturally by means of a ventilator. If he were to die naturally as God intended, he’d have been dead long ago. Where is the logic in this argument?

2) She says the baby opens his eyes and looks at her, but he is blind. How does she reconcile these opposing points of information?

In her situation, I think I would remove life support, and hold my son in my arms as he died. I would think it a gift of peace at the end of a short and traumatic life.

absolutely. As a critcal care nurse, I can tell you there are worse things than death. If a person has been clear about their end of life preferences, the loving thing to do is to respect them.

@augustlan – Very good points. I can sense why she’d have difficulty doing so, though. I guess I’m consumed with the question, “What if?” What if the person wakes up (if they’re in a coma) or new advances in medicine make it possible to heal that person?

Then again, a lot of money is apparently spent supporting the painful lives of these folks who have no voice. Money that could be spent on other living humans.

I suppose I’m torn.