Nadereh Nasseri said she took comfort knowing she would neither languish in a brain-damaged state like Terri Schiavo nor become the subject of an emotional tug-of-war among family members.

“I have a living will,” the Lawrence woman said. “I commute a lot. If something happens to me, I don’t want my children to have to be responsible for me.”

Kathy Scharplaz, of Minneapolis, Kan., prays outside the Florida Senate Chamber in Tallahassee, Fla. Terri Schiavo's parents saw both the U.S. and Florida supreme courts refuse to hear appeals to order the reinsertion of her feeding tube, and the Florida Legislature decided not to intervene in the epic struggle. Gov. Jeb Bush sought court permission to take custody of Schiavo, but was denied in district court.

Nasseri is a nurse administrator working in Lawrence for Midland Hospice of Topeka. She knows firsthand the ease that living wills can bring to people who realize that someday they might suffer from a terminal illness or severe brain damage. She also knows that living wills make dealing with the death of a loved one easier for a family.

Molly Wood, a Lawrence attorney specializing in laws that affect the elderly, also knows.

“If Terri Schiavo had a living will, we wouldn’t be talking about her,” Wood said.

Though they vary, Kansas and many other states have laws allowing a person to complete a living will that directs physicians to remove feeding tubes, ventilators or anything else that might be keeping him alive should he become terminally ill or vegetative like Schiavo.

The law also allows one to designate another person to have “durable power of attorney” for making medical decisions for someone else should he become incompetent to do so himself. Copies of the forms can be made from the statute, but most health institutions, such as hospitals and nursing homes, have copies available. Attorneys and social workers note that the basic forms also can be made to include specifics that reflect an individual’s exact desires.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital has a detailed form. All patients who come to the hospital are asked if they have a living will or medical directives. If they do, a copy is requested for the hospital, said Hwi-Ja Canda, LMH social worker coordinator. If not, a social worker will provide the hospital form and go over it with the patient, Canda said.

“I really recommend that people be very, very specific about their wishes to avoid ambiguity,” Canda said.

It is not necessary to have an attorney handle the forms for you, Wood said.

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Copies of all medical directives, including living wills and power of attorney forms, need to be given to physicians to be kept in personal medical files, as well as to hospitals, nursing homes and certain family members or others so designated. Copies should also be taken when traveling to another state. If something should happen a person in another state, that state is supposed to honor that person’s state law, Wood said.

Wood said she was unaware of any court challenges to Kansas’ living will laws.

If people later decide to change their medical directives, they must replace the original ones with the new ones.

Publicity about the Schiavo case and a similar case 20 years ago in Missouri involving Nancy Cruzan has increased awareness and interest about living wills, social and hospice workers said. Still, such medical directives are not often considered by young people, and some have difficulty even thinking about them, they said.

“You have different dynamics involved when you’re talking about someone with diabetes and heart disease and who is 83,” Wood said.

If patient lacks a living will, who should make the decision whether to remove that patient from life support? The patient’s spouse The patient’s family The patient’s physician The state government The federal government The judicial system See the results without voting » Note: This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.