Scenario)Your elderly father has recently been diagnosed with terminal

lung cancer. His doctors estimate that he has roughly a year left to live before the cancer will overtake him. He is wisely using this as an opportunity to think about what kinds of treatments he wants or wants to refuse as the cancer runs its course. He has seen several of his friends die on life support in hospitals and wants to make sure that he doesn't die that way. He is asking you to be his medical decision maker should he lose the ability to make those decisions for himself. Specifically, he does not want to be put on ventilator support, especially if it looks like he cannot be weaned from it. You realize that means that he may die sooner than if he were on such support, and you wonder if you can do that, given your strong view of the sanctity of life. It feels as if you would be killing your dad if you authorized the withholding or withdrawal of ventilator support. He has maintained that if his life gets too painful or has suffering that can't be alleviated, he wants to have the option of physician-assisted suicide, since it's legal in the state in which he resides. Questions for Discussion (address any of the following) Do you think it is acceptable to remove or withhold a ventilator from your father in his condition, even if it means he will die sooner? If not, why not? If so, under what conditions is it acceptable? Do you believe that removing a ventilator would be killing your father? Would it make you complicit in his death? Why or why not? Your father also does not want to be on feeding tubes for his nutrition and hydration should he lose the ability to swallow. Would you consider feeding tubes the same as a ventilator, or are feeding tubes more basic care? Is removing the feeding tubes the same as starving someone to death? Why or why not? Assuming you live in a state where physician-assisted suicide is legal, would you help facilitate physician-assisted suicide for him? Why or why not?

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