In Re the Welfare of Colyer

The husband of a woman in a chronic, vegetative state sought a court order to discontinue life sustaining systems. Because of the immediate need for judicial review, a special en banc hearing was held, and we affirmed the trial court's order directing that the life support systems be withdrawn. With this opinion we set forth the reasons for that order and establish general guidelines for future cases.

I

We begin by recounting the facts. On March 8, 1982, Bertha Colyer, age 69, sustained a cardiopulmonary arrest; her heart stopped beating. Although she was resuscitated by paramedics, her body…