14 DAY TRIAL // Living wills have been the subject of serious debates ever since they first appeared. The main issue is that some of them give specific directions as to what medical course of action is to be taken in case the writers of the will is incapacitated or unable to otherwise decide for themselves. Some of these directions, such as euthanasia or assisted suicide, fall in contradiction with some laws or displease human rights groups.
The two main opposing camps argue the right of humans doing whatever they want with their lives and the sanctity of life, respectively. Supporters of living wills say that the ability of every person being able to do whatever they want with their bodies is a natural extension of civil and human rights. It stands to reason that some people simply may not want for their lives to be sustained by machines alone, even if their brains are dead and their consciousnesses gone.
Opponents say that the advanced directives are too widely-viewed and that they can easily be interpreted in a number of different ways. They do not object to the fact that each individual is free to reject medical care at any time, but say that people who are incapacitated, disabled or otherwise unable to decide for themselves should be “forced” to live, if new medical techniques allow for it. They say that breakthroughs may appear after persons write their wills, which will render the documents valueless.
The issue now being discussed in Europe is whether to introduce a communitarian approach on the matter or not. Some countries are very progressive on the matter and even house so-called “suicide clinics”, where patients without any chance of survival or in excruciating pain are medically assisted in taking their own lives. On the other hand, some countries still perceive this to be a crime, regardless of the patient's medical condition.
The 27 countries that currently form the European Union have yet to reach a consensus on the matter, with ethical, religious and practical issues getting in the way of a Unitarian view on the matter. The goal of these discussions is to implement a Union-wide policy, to regulate the meaning, use and effects of these living wills, so that caregivers will no longer be faced with having to decide on agreeing to terminating a patient's life or not even before knowing whether the treatment they applied was successful or not.