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Defending Life

Advance Directives for Healthcare

The Life-Affirming Medical Proxy (LAMP) was developed by HALO in response to calls from people seeking HALO’s help to obtain a medical power of attorney (a.k.a. a durable power of attorney for health care) in emergency situations. The LAMP document can be readily downloaded in such situations. The American Bar Association advises, “Even if your state requires a specific form, doctors have a legal obligation to respect your clearly communicated treatment wishes in any manner or form expressed, as long as the wishes are medically appropriate.” (Sabatino, Charles. “Myths and Facts About Health Care Advance Directives.” BIFOCAL, vol. 37, no. 1, 2015, pp. 6–9.) Accordingly, regardless of where you reside, a signed and properly witnessed LAMP document should be accepted as a valid expression of your wishes. Read more…

Download the Advance Directive Comparison Fact Sheet (PDF)

LIFE-AFFIRMING ADVANCE DIRECTIVES FOR HEALTHCARE

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LIFE-AFFIRMING ADVANCE
DIRECTIVES FOR HEALTHCARE

June 2020

HALO collaborates with many organizations to provide those who trust us with the best life-affirming information, services, and products available. There are several life-affirming advance directives for healthcare that HALO has vetted and approved, including our own LAMP (Life-Affirming Medical Proxy) document, the Patients Rights Council’s PMDD (Protective Medical Decisions Document), Pro-Life Wisconsin’s PPAHC (Protective Power of Attorney for Health Care) and, for Canadians, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition’s Life-Protecting Power of Attorney for Personal Care. For information on these documents, see the red box on HALO’s home page at www.halovoice.org. Additionally, HALO has created a resource that explains the differences between common types of advance directives: Medical Advance Directives: A Comparision.
We believe that people should have more than one choice when it comes to selecting a life-affirming advance directive because every person’s needs are different.
Introducing the LOVING WILL
American Life League offers an excellent document – the LOVING WILL. This advance directive is both a life-protective directive to physicians and a durable power of attorney (DPA) in which a person appoints an attorney-in-fact (called a proxy, agent, etc. in other DPA documents) to make medical decisions for them if they are unable to do so. The LOVING WILL is unique because, when a person does not know anyone they would trust to be their medical decision-maker, the directive may be used separately from the DPA.
In this pandemic, there are ever-growing threats to your life. Some in the medical community are pushing for the denial of life-saving services to some people. Now, more than ever, it is essential that everyone have a directive stating they want all available effective treatments, care, nutrition (food), hydration (water) and oxygen, however administered, to protect and preserve their life.
During this critical time, ALL is making the LOVING WILL available at NO CHARGE. Simply click here and order it. Once you complete the process, it will be sent to you by email. (Tip: When ordering the Loving Will, in the space that asks for your phone number or email address, type your email address so the download link will be sent to your email.)
Every Adult Needs a Life-Affirming, Life-Protective Advance Directive
Every person 18 years of age or older should have a life-protective directive. Whenever you go to the hospital, bring along your carefully prepared life-protective directive that instructs health-care personnel to do nothing intentionally, by act or omission, to cause your death. This simple action may make the difference between life and death.

WHY AND HOW TO REFUSE TO BE AN ORGAN DONOR

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The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act was revised in 2006 and most states have adopted it. Everyone who has not explicitly refused to be an organ donor is now considered a “prospective donor.”

This means that, if you are “at or near death,” your hospital must notify an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO). While the OPO searches for a “reasonably available” family member or other person who can legally consent or refuse to donate your organs, the medical team can treat you like a donor, subjecting you to medical procedures—not beneficial to you—solely to make certain your organs are in tip-top condition for the potential recipient.

Before organ transplantation was possible, physicians waited long enough to be certain that circulatory and respiratory functions had irreversibly ceased. Death was declared only when there were no vital signs—the body was cold, blue and stiff.

Today, however, in the haste to procure vital organs before they begin to deteriorate due to loss of circulation, death is often declared to enable organ transplantation, not to protect the donor from a death-dealing mistake.

Every state maintains an Organ Donor Registry listing people who have agreed to be organ donors, either on a driver’s license application or by signing an organ donor card. These state registries are readily accessed by Organ Procurement Organizations (a.k.a. Organ Donor Networks).

However, NO STATE has a registry for those who do not want to be organ donors. Therefore, it is up to you to protect yourself. Refuse to be an organ donor IN WRITING.

Sign and carry with you an I REFUSE TO BE AN ORGAN DONOR wallet card. To request a wallet card, email feedback@halorganization.com

ADVANCE DIRECTIVES FOR HEALTHCARE — PART ONE: THE BEST ADVANCE DIRECTIVE IS A MEDICAL POWER OF ATTORNEY

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By Julie Grimstad
Advance directives are legal documents by which individuals express their wishes regarding medical treatment in the event they become incapable of making health care decisions for themselves. Part One of this two-part article addresses two types of advance directives: the Medical Power of Attorney and the Living Will. Next month, Part Two will address an advance directive called a POLST form. POLST stands for Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment. (POLST may have a different name and acronym in your state.)
The title of Part One gives away HALO’s preference. In this article, I will explain why we promote only the Medical Power of Attorney (MPA) and are even very particular about the kind of MPA document we advise people to use.
At first glance, advance directives don’t appear problematic, but consider their origin. In 1967, the Euthanasia Society of America (later renamed the Society for the Right to Die and a succession of other names) introduced the first advance directive, the Living Will, as a step toward social and legal acceptance of euthanasia.i Unfortunately, due to the relentless efforts of the “right to die” movement, society has largely lost sight of the difference between allowing natural death and intentionally causing death. Every state’s advance directives law now permits the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures—including basic measures such as providing food and fluids by tube or intravenously—even when their omission will be the direct cause of death.
Living Wills are fatally flawed
A Living Will (often called a Directive to Physicians) directs physicians to use or not use certain treatments and/or tube-feeding in the event of a future illness or injury. It is impossible to foresee what you may want or need in a future situation. Thus a Living Will, which is a legally binding document, is based on mere guesswork. This is dangerous.
A case in which I was involved in 2005 illustrates this point. A young soldier suffered a severe brain injury while serving in Iraq. Before going to Iraq, he had signed a Living Will in which he had checked a box indicating that he would not want artificially provided nutrition and hydration (tube-feeding) in the event he became terminally ill or permanently unconscious. His wife insisted that nutrition and hydration be withdrawn and a doctor mistakenly determined he was permanently unconscious. This young man was admitted to a hospice for “comfort care” while being starved and dehydrated to death. A family member called me, desperately asking what they could do to save her loved one’s life. She said that, while he was in a rehabilitation facility, he would squeeze a ball with his hand. When he dropped it, he would pick it up by himself and continue with therapy, showing a determination to get better. His best friend told a reporter that he was responding “yes” or “no” to questions and nodded “yes” when asked if he wanted to live. But because, before he was injured, he had checked a box in his Living Will indicating no tube-feeding, his fate was sealed.
It is never wise to specify conditions under which you would rather be dead. Anything you write or say in that vein can lead to the premature ending of your life. If you refuse treatment, you risk tying the hands of a physician whose skills could restore you to health. Also, it is surprisingly difficult to state treatment wishes accurately and understandably. You may think you are clearly stating your preferences, but the terms used in advance directives often have legal and medical meanings that are quite different from what many people think they mean. When you are hospitalized, physicians may be strangers who do a poor job of interpreting your written wishes, particularly if they do not share your values.
Living Wills are fatally flawed.

The wiser choice: a Medical Power of Attorney

A much better choice is a Medical Power of Attorney in which you appoint a trusted family member or friend to be your “agent” (called a “proxy” in some state advance directive laws). Your agent will make medical decisions for you in the moment of need if you are unable, either temporarily or permanently, to do so for yourself.

Your agent will endeavor to honor your values and wishes while basing medical decisions on current information—your medical condition, treatment options, and likely outcomes—provided by medical professionals. Research is constantly producing new treatments that reverse serious conditions. You cannot know today what treatments will be available tomorrow. This is just one reason why appointing an agent to make your medical decisions in a future situation may save your life.
It is important that you discuss your wishes and principles with your agent when you sign your MPA and periodically thereafter. Your perspective may change as your circumstances change. For instance, it is not unusual for healthy people to imagine that certain medical treatments would be intolerable, but then change their minds when faced with life-threatening conditions. ii On the other hand, some people, when their health is declining, may wish to limit or forgo medical treatment that they previously said they would want.
A Medical Power of Attorney is a necessity for anyone who is 18 years old or older. To be certain a person you trust will make medical decisions for you if you become incapacitated due to an accident or illness, you must specifically name that person in a legal document.
The standard MPA, however, presents problems because it uses the same language as does a Living Will and it permits an agent to make decisions that will directly cause a person’s death. Both documents can be interpreted to mean “I don’t want to live” under certain circumstances, which may not be what you meant when you signed your advance directive or what you’d want in the event you are unable to communicate your wishes.
Safeguard your life
Should you become seriously ill or injured and unable to speak for yourself, your greatest advantage will be a tenacious agent committed to protecting your best interests. Your next of kin may not be that person. If you haven’t spoken to someone you would trust with your life about being your medical decision maker in a time of crisis, consider having that conversation today.
Do your best to choose an agent who (1) genuinely respects human life and is capable of making morally sound decisions, (2) will ask questions in order to base decisions on the best medical information and advice available, (3) will seek a second expert opinion, spiritual counsel or legal advice when necessary and (4) will not be easily intimidated by medical professionals or medical terminology.
Next, choose a Medical Power of Attorney document that is carefully worded to ensure that no one, not even your agent, has the authority to approve the direct and intentional ending of your life. The Protective Medical Decisions Document (PMDD), drafted by the Patients Rights Council, fits this description and is the MPA that HALO most often recommends. iii
The PMDD states, “I direct that food and water (nutrition and hydration) be provided to me unless death is inevitable and truly imminent so that the effort to sustain my life is futile or unless I am unable to assimilate food and fluids.” This document also directs “that my life not be ended by assisted suicide” or “by euthanasia.” And, to preclude misinterpretation of your directions, the PMDD specifically states that the meanings of words used in this document are “those which I have discussed with my agent.” When you sign a PMDD, you are giving your agent sole authority to interpret what you mean by the words used in it.
The wording of a Medical Power of Attorney is critically important and must comply with the laws of your state. The PMDD is available in state-specific versions, which is another reason HALO endorses it.
Be prepared
When a patient is admitted to a health care facility, they are asked if they have an advance directive. If the answer is “no,” they are offered one then and there. Being admitted to a health care facility is often a stressful event and there are many papers to sign and questions to answer. This is not an ideal circumstance for scrutinizing a legal document with life and death consequences. It is wise to plan ahead so you have your own thoughtfully prepared Medical Power of Attorney in hand when you arrive at the emergency room or admission desk.
Filling out a PMDD takes only a few minutes—a few minutes that may mean the difference between life and death.
i Euthanasia means an act or omission which causes the death of a sick, elderly or disabled person so that suffering and other difficulties may be eliminated.
ii “Why do patients often deviate from their advance directives?” Jerome Groopman, MD and Pamela Hartzband, MD, Physician, 9/24/2012
iii HALO’s preferred MPA, the Protective Medical Decisions Document (PMDD), is a state-specific document available from the Patients Rights Council, P.O Box 760, Steubenville, OH 43952; phone 740-282-3810 or toll-free 1-800-958-5678. For Wisconsin residents HALO also endorses the Wisconsin Protective Power of Attorney for Health Care, which can be downloaded free at www.prolifewisconsin.org , or ordered by calling toll-free 1-877-463-7945.

ADVANCE DIRECTIVES FOR HEALTHCARE, PART TWO: THE DANGEROUS POLST FORM

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PART TWO: THE DANGEROUS POLST FORM

By Julie Grimstad, Board President

Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is an advance directive form used extensively throughout the United States. POLST has many different names and acronyms, such as Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST), Clinician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (COLST), and Transportable Physician Orders for Patient Preferences (TPOPP). These forms differ, and some are worse than others, but all of them can be used to encourage refusal of life-saving and life-preserving treatment and care, resulting in avoidable deaths.

A brightly colored (usually neon pink, green or yellow) form that is very visible in a patient’s medical chart, POLST reduces complicated medical decisions to a “check the box” format. Trained “facilitators” (sometimes with little or no medical expertise) ask patients questions and check boxes indicating whether they do or do not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a ventilator, antibiotics, IV fluids, tube-feeding, and various other medical interventions. After filling out a POLST with a patient, the facilitator presents it to a doctor or nurse practitioner (NP) for a signature. Once signed, this unusual advance directive becomes medical orders that can go into effect even when a patient is fully capable of making his or her own medical decisions and/or does not have a terminal condition.

POLST medical orders travel with the patient from one healthcare setting to the next, and even home to be followed by EMTs in an emergency. Using medical orders that were written weeks, months or years earlier is not sound medical practice.

Tilted toward refusal of treatment

POLST facilitators follow a script according to which they present treatment and care options as if all medical decisions are morally neutral.

The Respecting Choices program distributes fact sheets for POLST facilitators to use to educate patients. The “Long-Term Tube Feeding Facts” sheet concludes, “Whatever you decide, plans can be made to follow your wishes.”[1] It does not explain what those ”plans” might include, so I will. When tube-feeding is withheld from patients who are not otherwise dying (hence the word “long-term”), they will be given “comfort care” which often involves sedating patients to unconsciousness to prevent them from experiencing the pains of thirst and hunger as they die of dehydration. This is a form of euthanasia, which is both unethical and immoral.

Patients answering POLST questions may not be aware that, even if they could recover, treatments they refuse will not be provided and they could die as a result. What if an elderly person is in an accident? Will he be given the life-saving treatment he would probably want in this situation? Or will he be denied it because of some boxes checked by a POLST facilitator?

The way questions are phrased can manipulate patients’ responses. For example, a facilitator may ask, “Do you want comfort care? Do you want us to focus on keeping you comfortable?” The patient says, “Yes of course,” not realizing that this answer will be interpreted to mean, “Stop efforts to treat my illness and only provide comfort measures.”

The POLST form is designed for only one thing—refusal of treatment. A typical POLST form states, “Any section not completed implies full treatment for that section.” Therefore, if a person wants full treatment, a POLST is pointless.

A cost-saving strategy

John M. Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCCB), in a letter to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Veterans Administration regarding POLST, dated June 7, 2017, noted that “evidence suggests that such approaches have more to do with cost saving than the protection of informed consent. In fact, the very means by which costs will be saved is the premature death of a patient through the denial of basic care.”[2]

Listening to POLST’s advocates leads to the conclusion that POLST is indeed a strategy to cut spending on medical care for the most vulnerable patients. For example:

  • Dr. Robert L. Fine, Director, Office of Clinical Ethics and Palliative Care, Baylor Health Care System (Texas), addressed “Why should we support POST?” One of several reasons he listed was “High costs in the last year of life with 28% of Medicare dollars spent in the last year and 14% spent in the last 2 months of life.”[3]
  • The Gundersen Health Systems, La Crosse, WI, has been promoting a model for advance health care planning—the Respecting Choices program—since 1991. The program promotes POLST and trains POLST facilitators. An article advertising Respecting Choices stated, “Partly due to Gundersen’s Respecting Choices program, end-of-life medical costs in La Crosse are nearly half the national average.”[4]


POLST’s reach is expanding

According to the National POLST Paradigm website (polst.org), “The POLST form is for seriously ill patients for whom their physicians would not be surprised if they died in the next year, not for all patients.” Despite this qualification, POLST’s reach is expanding.

Case in Point: Jo Tolck, Vice President of the HALO Board of Directors, received a call from a woman in Minnesota who had been given a POLST form at her doctor’s office when she was there for a procedure necessary to have a prescription renewed. She reported being strongly encouraged to sign the POLST form. However, having read Informed: A guide for critical medical decisions[5], she knew this was not a good idea and was incensed at the pressure being put on her to sign the POLST. The staff member finally asked her to take it home and think about it.

Case in Point: An attorney in Wisconsin, who has “heard many stories like this,” reported: A woman in her forties came to the Emergency Department at a local hospital. She was in such respiratory distress that she could not talk. While waiting for a doctor, she was approached by the unit clerk who wanted to complete a POLST with her. The nurse, who had brought the woman to the hospital, intervened and stopped the POLST process. The ward clerk said it was their policy to do a POLST on any one with respiratory problems. The woman’s problem was an allergic reaction to a new medication. An Epi-Pen injection completely restored her to health.

I have also received reports from credible sources that some nursing homes require every resident to have a POLST, even though many people live in nursing homes for several years or more.

POLST is a uniquely dangerous advance directive

No other type of advance directive requires a healthcare provider’s signature. Every other advance directive requires the signatures of the person making the directive and witnesses, yet many POLST forms do not require either. For instance, the La Crosse Area (Wisconsin) POST merely recommends the signature of the patient or surrogate and no witnesses are required. Incredibly, this POST form permits a physician or NP to initial a box “to verify that the patient or surrogate consent to these orders but was unwilling or unable to sign.” If a person was unwilling to sign a document, it is doubtful that the person consented to it. Without witnesses, how can we prevent fraud and protect patients from being coached or coerced to refuse treatment?

As a routine part of a visit to the doctor, Medicare started paying for conversations about “advance care planning” in January 2016. The goal to is get patients to fill out advance directives such as a POLST.

Advice: According to the National POLST website, completing a POLST form is always voluntary. Do not allow anyone to push you into it. When approached with a POLST form, firmly state, “I have a Medical Power of Attorney for Health Care[6] which will go into effect if ever I need my agent to make decisions for me. Until such time, I want to discuss my condition and treatment options with my attending physician as needed. Please respect my wishes.”

[1] http://www.northtexasrespectingchoices.com/wp-content/uploads/MC760-E-TubeFeedFacts_v9-15.pdf
[2] https://www.ncbcenter.org/files/4715/0896/0198/HaasPolst.pdf
[3] “A POLST form for Texas: What is it and why is it important?” A presentation to GETAC Medical Directors, Robert L. Fine, MD, FACP,https://www.dshs.texas.gov/emstraumasystems/POLST.pdf
[4] Modern Healthcare, 6/11/2015, “‘Revolutionary’ change for life’s final choices would reduce unwanted care,” by Andis Robeznieks]
[5] https://resources.humanlife.org/pdf/informed.pdf
[6] See “Advance Directives for Healthcare – Part One: The Best Advance Directive is a Medical Power of Attorney,” https://newsletter.halorganization.com/search/label/Advance%20Directives%20For%20Healthcare

DEBORAH, HER MOM, AND DOING THE RIGHT THING

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DEBORAH, HER MOM, AND DOING THE RIGHT THING

By Judie Brown
President of American Life League
Member of HALO’s Board of Advisors
A pro-life friend named Deborah wrote to me, saying:

My mom has stage 4 cancer, so I took one of the American Life League Loving Wills I got several years ago and read her the form about food and water and asked if she wanted to sign one so they will have to give her nutrition. She said she wanted to. My daughter is a notary, and she came to the hospital and read over the form. She said it wasn’t sufficient because it didn’t go into detail about DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order. She notarized it anyway, but I need your input to make sure this is all we need.

I promised Deborah that I would check into this, and I was grateful to be able to write her back and assure her that the Loving Will is compliant with Texas law. But I was also told to make sure she knew this about current Texas law. The Texas Advance Directive Act violates the personal liberties of conscience among those who do not ascribe to euthanasia practices. How? According to Texas Right to Life, TADA’s 10-Day-Law has “been accurately described by people across the political spectrum as ‘death panels.’” The death panels are hospital-appointed ethics committees that basically rubber-stamp doctors’ decisions to stop patients’ treatment, with or without their consent. After being notified of such a decision, “the patient and his or her legal surrogate have a mere 10 days to arrange an emergency transfer to another facility that would be willing to continue treatment. Such a transfer is often extraordinarily complicated” in so-called ‘futile care’ cases, “and there are no practical means under the 10-Day-Law for a typical patient to stop the ticking clock.”
The attorney I asked for advice also advised us that Deborah and her daughter, who is not an attorney, needed to understand the facts about a DNR. According to experts, stopping life support can be fraught with problems. No matter what kind of form you sign, that piece of paper can be used to terminate your life if the wrong person is interpreting it or if the wrong person has been given control over your care decisions should you become unable to make those decisions yourself.
I also shared the following with Deborah because it is never adequate to provide a simple answer when we are dealing with the challenges someone faces while caring for a loved one and attempting to protect him from those too willing to cut lives short.
Chris Kahlenborn, MD, explains:

Many people, often under the guidance of their lawyer, have living wills which specify what type of medical treatment they wish to have or forego should they have a terminal illness. There are several problems with this. First, the living will is a rather rigid document, often prepared years prior to the occurrence of the patient’s first medical illness, after which circumstances and opinions have often changed. Second, many physicians interpret a living will as a “do not resuscitate (DNR)” order, so that, if you are admitted for a non-terminal illness, you could be categorized as a DNR patient, when that may not be your wish. Third, patients with living wills, in general, will get less aggressive hospital treatment. My advice is to speak with a trusted friend or family member and make them your power of attorney for healthcare decision maker instead of obtaining a living will.

In the process of trying to find adequate help for Deborah so that she can rest assured that her mother is cared for properly, I learned a lot about resources available to Texans. For example, the St. Thomas More Society has specific documents that are fundamentally in-line with Catholic teaching, including an advance directive and a medical power of attorney. In addition, attorney Kassi Marks has a blog entitled Kassiblog that addresses these tough questions and monitors current state law.
Finally, it is always prudent to rely on the words of well-known Catholic doctors who have studied these matters and who know what is at stake from the Catholic ethical perspective. Among the most eloquent is Paul Byrne, MD, who wrote this warning about DNRs in the online booklet “Life, Life Support and Death”:

When it is directed by a dying patient or the patient’ s proxy that a gravely burdensome treatment will not be administered, a specific order for that specific non-treatment must be written. Written orders must be as precise as possible. “Do Not Resuscitate” or “No Code” are examples of ambiguous orders widely accepted by physicians and courts. Do these orders mean no maintenance of an airway, or no ventilation, or no cardiac resuscitation, as well as no new or additional therapy? Furthermore, in light of the weakness of human nature, once the course has been plotted by a DNR (“Do Not Resuscitate”) or a “No Code” order, there is a tendency to preclude, eliminate, or reduce other kinds of “ordinary” treatments, such as visits by physicians and care given by nurses and others. Broad orders of “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) or “No Code” must be avoided. At no other time in medicine are treatment-orders that are broad and non-specific considered to be within the standard of care.

As someone who comes to this topic from the pro-life Catholic perspective, I am aware that, when a person we love is very ill, though we might have the best instincts in the world, our emotions can frequently get the best of us. That is why it is a good idea to rely on the wisdom and help of those who are not directly involved with your decision, but who care about the fact that the right decisions must be made.
This is one of the reasons why I am so grateful to God to be part of the Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization. Deborah could rely on me in her time of need, and she trusted that I would provide her with the solid answers she needed to help her daughter understand the matters at hand and to help her look out for her mom’s best interests.
HALO can do that for you.
Note from HALO: Be wary of any healthcare advance directive that is not specifically life-affirming, such as the directives provided by your state, healthcare facility, or doctor’s or attorney’s office. There are several life-affirming options to choose from in addition to American Life League’s Loving Will. HALO offers its Life-Affirming Medical Proxy (LAMP), and endorses the Patients Rights Council’s Protective Medical Decisions Document (PMDD); Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Protective Power of Attorney for Health Care (PPAHC); and, for Canadians, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalitions’ Life Protecting Power of Attorney. These are all medical power of attorney (MPA) documents in which you appoint an agent to make medical decisions for you in the event you cannot make them for yourself. To learn more, visit the main page of our website — www.halorganization.com – and look for the red box, then enter the name of your state or province to learn which document may be right for you.
The American Bar Association advises:

Most states do not require a particular form, but they do have witnessing requirements or other special signing formalities that should be followed.

Even if your state requires a specific form, doctors have a legal obligation to respect your clearly communicated treatment wishes in any manner or form expressed, as long as the wishes are medically appropriate. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_aging/publications/bifocal/vol_37/issue_1_october2015/myths_and_facts_advance_directives/
Regardless of which MPA document you choose, there is a catch. What does the term “medically appropriate mean” and who will decide what is “medically appropriate” treatment? Do your best to protect yourself by naming as your medical decision-maker someone who will not be intimidated by healthcare professionals or medical terminology, or by a “futile care” decision; someone who will defend your right to life-sustaining medical treatment and care even if that requires seeking legal help.
Every person 18 years of age or older should have a life-affirming MPA naming someone to make decisions for them and protect them in a medical crisis if they cannot speak for themselves. Your life or the life of a loved one may depend on it.