The case of Terri Schiavo has the whole country debating whether her parents can have her feeding tube re-inserted.

It’s a sad situation, as her parents and their doctors argue that she may recover and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water, while her estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, argues that his wife has no hope of recovery and would want to die. Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a chemical imbalance. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on a feeding tube to keep her alive.

While this is a situation no one would ever wish to be in, it does highlight the importance of health care directives or living wills.

A health care directive allows an individual to state what they would like to happen to them and who would make those decisions in the event they were in a life-altering state. It is an important tool, but sadly, not many people have one.

Health care directives can be prepared with the advice of an attorney or found at area churches and at Albert Lea Medical Center.

Most people will never need one, but the Schiavo situation is highlighting the importance of the tool for many people. Not only is a living will key in the question of whether to prolong life, but can also address wishes in regard to organ donation.

No one will ever know who is right and who is wrong in this case, but the one bit of good that may come of it all is that people may talk to their loved ones about what they would want in a similiar situation.