Am J Public Health. 1983 Aug;73(8):918-21. doi: 10.2105/ajph.73.8.918.
Although the right to refuse medical treatment is universally recognized as a fundamental principle of liberty, this right is not always honored. A refusal can be thwarted either because a patient is unable to competently communicate or because providers insist on continuing treatment. To help enhance the patient's right to refuse treatment, many states have enacted so-called "living will" or "natural death" statutes. We believe the time has come to move beyond these current legislative models, and we therefore propose a Model Act that clearly enunciates an individual's right to refuse treatment, does not limit its exercise to the terminally ill or to heroic measures, and provides a mechanism by which individuals can set forth their wishes in advance and designate another person to enforce them.
虽然拒绝医疗的权利被普遍视为一项基本自由原则，但这项权利并非总是受到尊重。拒绝可能会受到阻碍，要么是因为患者无法有效地表达自己的意愿，要么是因为医疗服务提供者坚持继续治疗。为了帮助增强患者拒绝治疗的权利，许多州已经颁布了所谓的“生前遗嘱”或“自然死亡”法规。我们认为，现在是时候超越当前这些立法模式了，因此我们提议制定一项示范法，该法明确阐明个人拒绝治疗的权利，不将其行使限制于绝症患者或极端治疗措施，并提供一种机制，通过该机制个人可以提前阐明自己的意愿并指定他人来执行这些意愿。
