Whose Wishes?

A commenter, jengould, on Michael Bérubé's blog, provides an excellent example of why the Bush government shouldn't be siding with the Schiavo parents and why parents in general shouldn't be able to over-ride an individual's or a spouse's wishes:

This just terrifies me. My husband and I both have advance health care directives and durable powers of attorney for health care, and they both, frankly, err on the side of death. If it looks like I’m in PVS or a permanent coma, let me go. My religious fundie in-laws are horrified by this, and refuse to say that they would respect my husband’s wishes. I had comforted myself with the knowledge that we have left written instructions and had this discussion with everyone we know, but now, I don’t know. We live in California, so who’s to say what a trial judge would decide?

And I’m sure that in the end my or my husband’s wishes would be honored, but I don’t even want to go to court (and I’m a law student). I don’t want my face plastered on billboards as a murderer, and I don’t want to be interviewed on CNN. I just want our explicit, written wishes to be honored. What more can I do to make that happen?

Hear, hear.