The rep wants people to give more thought to the end-of-life care they want to receive, and to reflect on how best to ensure that the care they get corresponds to their values. If you don't have a health care directive in place, the hospital is going to default to the position of the Roman Catholic Church--and try to keep you alive for as long as it can, if for no other reason than to minimize its legal liability.
It might seem funny that my church would go to such lengths to remind people of the benefits of avoiding Catholic doctrine. You've come a long way, baby.
I informed him that I was in complete agreement; people ought to give this some thought, despite having filed no directive myself. The health care directive might instruct one's doctor to pull the plug, were she to adjudge one in a permanent vegetative state, for example.
'Twas time then to raise the bidding:
What if the best medical advice said you can be kept alive for another two months, though the likely quality of such living would be gruesome? Of course we need safeguards, but shouldn't you have the right to euthenasia? (Fr. Rudolphi I did not see.)
I was again pushing against an open door: Compassion and Choices adamantly endorses the Aid in Dying movement.
