tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3361785784498692060.post8618591003073521247..comments2023-09-27T01:25:34.993-07:00Comments on DAWG Oregon: Death With Dignity?David McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02023134941731366721noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3361785784498692060.post-12148137560309999062008-07-24T11:24:00.000-07:002008-07-24T11:24:00.000-07:00Didja know that "Five Wishes" is a stealth Catholi...Didja know that "Five Wishes" is a stealth Catholic document?<BR/><BR/>“Five Wishes” should come with a warning label. Why? Because the religious dogma imbedded in it could actually subvert your wishes when the time comes. <BR/><BR/>In 1997 James Towey started a Florida organization called “Aging with Dignity” and wrote “Five Wishes.” Five Wishes is a wonderful form in many ways, but fair warning is in order. <BR/><BR/>Wish Number 2, “My Wish For the Kind of Medical Treatment I Want Or Don’t Want,” includes the general instruction “I do not want anything done or omitted by my doctors or nurses with the intention of taking my life” (italics original).<BR/> <BR/>Then the form goes on to list medical interventions that keep a person alive and allows you to check the box, “I do not want life-support treatment.” Thus it creates internal conflict within the document.<BR/> <BR/>Even if you check the “do not want life-support” box, a hospital or doctor could object that stopping life support would “intend” death and the form you signed expressly prohibits that. What a confusing mess that could create!<BR/> <BR/>My advice --- use your own state form. Or, you can cross out the parts of The Five Wishes form that you don’t agree with. <BR/> <BR/>Congratulations. You have just transformed a fish back into your own, personal end-of-life wish.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com