Will Restricting Prolonging of Life Upheld by Judge
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MINEOLA, N.Y. — A state Supreme Court justice ruled Wednesday that the “living will” of a terminally ill woman was executed when she was of sound mind and said that her wish to be spared extraordinary medical procedures should be honored without further legal wrangling.
Selma L. Saunders, 70, who has lung cancer, is being cared for in the home of her daughter, Adelaide Egan, but may have to be hospitalized at any time.
In the “living will,” she specified that, if she lapses into an irreversible coma for a period of one week, and, in the judgment of her physician, has suffered severe irreversible brain damage, then she must be allowed to die without further life support.
In the court papers, Saunders said that she wanted a judicial ruling now so relatives would be spared the “agony” of court hearings after she is comatose and unable to express her wish to die.
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