Eugenics and Nancy Cruzan

As an intensive-care nurse, I was dismayed to see Thomas’ inappropriate inclusion of Nancy Cruzan’s case and the promotion of “living wills” as examples of “the general moral decline of the country” in his otherwise valid commentary. A living will does not “call upon doctors to end lives,” as he stated. It is a request not to implement painful artificial life support so that death may occur naturally when a person is faced with terminal or hopeless circumstances.

If a person wishes all possible measures taken to preserve himself, certainly, this should be honored. But when a human being has lost all capacity for cognitive function, or a cancer victim declines the option of being placed on a ventilator, it is cruel to ignore previously expressed wishes to pass on peacefully.

We must learn to be more tolerant of our mortality.

DIANA BALLARD, Huntington Beach