A living will is a written statement that details how you want medical decisions to be made in the case that you are not able to make those decisions yourself.
You have the right to control your health care decisions, including the decision to have life-sustaining procedures withdrawn when you have a terminal and irreversible condition. You can sign a living will instructing your physician to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures under certain circumstances. Many people gain comfort in signing a living will because they do not want to lose their personal dignity at the end of life when nothing more can be done to cure them.