It's not about going against it or not. The point is, even if the will says outright "end my life support when I become a beating heart corpse", ultimately you still have to make the decision, you still have to say the words, and the will doesn't make the task any easier.

That seems really weird and illegal. It sounds like hospitals are placating to the family. I understand that they'd want to hesitate though-- the people who might sue them are the surviving family.

Living wills are legally binding documents: http://info.legalzoom.com/living-wills-binding-documents-220...

>I understand that they'd want to hesitate though-- the people who might sue them are the surviving family.

It's also the family, not the person having written the will several months or years ago, that has all the latest details on the condition and the options.

Legally binding, yes, but someone has to be the executor of said will. The executor is the one who has the power to make the decision asked for, in this case, usually family.