state living will and advance directives lawsHere you will find state living will and advance directives laws, the actual statutes of each state, that provide the authority for your right to execute a living will and other advance directives:
ALABAMA ALASKA ARIZONA (see Ch. 32) ARKANSAS CALIFORNIA COLORADO CONNECTICUT DELAWARE FLORIDA GEORGIA HAWAII see also Section 327E-3 IDAHO ILLINOIS INDIANA IOWA (enter "144A.3" in search ) Relevant sections continue through "144A.12" KANSAS (enter "65-28,101" in search) Relevant sections are through 65-28,109 KENTUCKY ( scroll to .621 through .644) LOUISIANA (1299.58.1 through 1299.58.10) MAINE MARYLAND (must type "Advance Directive" in search, then see 5-601 through 5-618) Health-General, "Title 5 -Death" is otherwise hard to locate MASSACHUSETTS (search "health care proxy"--no statutory provision for living will) MICHIGAN -no statutory provision for a living will, but see 700.5506(4). Search "patient advocate"-Sec. 700.5506 et seq.) More on Michigan MINNESOTA MISSISSIPPI(search "living will") MISSOURI MONTANA also search" 50-9-201" et seq NEBRASKA--see 20-401 to 20-416 NEVADA NEW HAMPSHIRE NEW JERSEY NEW MEXICO NEW YORK select law PBH scroll down to Art. 29-B and 29-C (2904-2978; 290 to 2994 NORTH CAROLINA NORTH DAKOTA scroll to Uniform Rights of Terminally Ill Act 23-06.4 (through 23-06.4-14) OHIO search 2133.01 to 2133.15 OKLAHOMAscroll to Chptr 60(in black) Ok Rights of Terminally Ill... OREGON PENNSYLVANIA RHODE ISLAND
State laws may, to a nonlawyer, seem to read the same. But, while similar, each living will law is particular in its definition of terms, and application to specific circumstances. It is further intended for use by its residents. Looking at Connecticut's laws after the debacle of Terri Shiavo's plight, it is questionable whether the Connecticut living will would have been enough to quell the controversy. Notice that the Connecticut statutory form does not "speak" as the form is written, if you are found to be minimally aware or minimally conscious, as some of the evidence suggested. Schiavo's life and death provided a laboratory tool, akin to a microscope, through which each living will law must be examined. Attorneys and law professors from many states expressed concern that the recommended form is inadequate, as many aspects had become glaringly "gray" under the Schiavo microscope.
The legal battle concerning Schiavo's actual condition may not have been any different in Florida, had Terri Schiavo had a living will. The questions were many, but one central debate was whether she was "minimally conscious" or in a "persistent vegetative state". Notice how "persistent vegetative state" is defined!
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