Right to Die

Is it too easy to remove life support?

Introduction

Terri Schiavo lay in a “persistent vegetative state” for 15 years until she died on March 31 after hospice staff removed her life-sustaining feeding tube. Schiavo's case touched off a wrenching, nationwide debate that continues in political, legal and medical circles over when, if ever, to withdraw life support from patients unable to express their own wishes. Many advocates and experts used the case to emphasize the need to write a “living will” and designate a “health-care proxy” to help make such decisions, but only a small minority of Americans have taken either step. Some in Congress want to make it harder to remove life support. But others say that no legal changes are needed and the issue is, in any event, for the states, ...

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