A fascinating and harrowing post by Zombie, wherein he/she describes the death of his/her Uncle Larry.
The comments are also outstanding and thought-provoking, although I haven't read all of them yet.
http://pajamasmedia.com/zombie/2011/02/21/death-channels/
Wow, that's a riveting account. These are tough questions.
Personally, I tell Mrs. IDP and my kids, if I'm ever in a coma, unresponsive, or incapacitated for any reason, don't pull the plug, cuz I'm comin' back! Of course, that's just a lighthearted way to say that I favor life, including my own.
I don't have a living will, and I need one, like NOW. I've told everyone who loves me that if I were to become comatose or incapacitated, that as long as there is one person who loves me that gains comfort from my physical presence on this earth, I am willing to and prefer to remain alive for that sake of that person. If one person wants me here, my preference is to be here until they are ready to let me go, and anyone who seeks to undermine that person's will or coerce them to change their mind will be working in direct opposition to my will. If they get comfort from praying for me, holding my hand, speaking to me, hoping I will live, then I am here for them until they lose that hope or comfort. Then I'm OK with being let go of.
I am pro-life, and that includes my own life. While I don't seek to thwart mortality, I would choose to ease a loved-ones burden, even when the capacity to make that choice is robbed from me. If medical technology can aid in keeping me here and facilitate the comfort of that loved one, then so be it.
I am so pro-life that I refused to be the executor of my father's estate because he wants to die if he's incapacitated. He watched my Grandfather pass in a very prolonged, agonizing, humiliating process, and he wants no part of that fate. He went as far as to say that if he is in such a state, and there is a place (another state or even country) to which he can be transferred and euthanized, this would be his directive. He asked me to think about it - to think about whether I could carry out that directive - and it took me all of two seconds to tell him no. I cannot and will not be a part of killing my own father, nor standing by allowing him to die. If that is his will, he needs to find another executor, so I let go of that responsibility as his firstborn son. I would've preferred to be able to step up and carry out his final wishes, but he gave me no choice.