Advance Directive
Writing out your wishes for health care can protect you if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself. In Oregon, an Advance Health Care Directive gives someone you trust the power to make significant health care decisions fo you when you are unable to do so.
Sometimes called a "living will", these documents gained attention in 2005 upon the death of Terry Schiavo. A feeding tube kept her alive for more than 10 years. Her husband argued in court that she wouldn’t have wanted to live in a vegetative state. Her parents fought, eventually unsuccessfully, to keep her on the feeding tubes.
In Oregon, each person creates an Advanced Directive using a mandatory form, which states their own decision about using life-sustaining medical treatment. Even if you have a health care power of attorney, you still need an Advanced Directive.