Hospitals across Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, will be required to respect patients' wishes in carrying out end-of-life medical treatment starting in 2023, as the southern Chinese city in late June became the first place on the Chinese mainland to incorporate the living will into local legislation.

According to the regulation adopted by the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress, a living will is a written, legal document that spells out if a patient does not want to receive treatment, such as intubation or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or be placed on life support; medical workers must respect that decision.

Following reports in local media, Shenzhen's move quickly sparked nationwide debate.

Some believe it's great as it shows respect for a patient's own choices, demonstrating how quality of life for many outweighs longevity. Others still have their doubts. For example, how to prove the will was made when the patient was still conscious? This new practice requires further standardization to avoid those with less than honorable intentions exploiting it. 

Jin Zegang (Red Star News): Actually, there are already examples of living wills on the Chinese mainland. The Beijing Living Will Promotion Association, which provides online services to people wanting to draft a living will, for one, was established in 2013.

The attempts to legalize living wills reveal a deep respect for the right to quality of life. It gives patients the right to manage their own life's ending, and hospitals also receive clear guidance on how to treat these patients. It is different from euthanasia because living wills are made when there is no hope for recovery and what follows is a process of natural death. Euthanasia, however, is a way to help end a person's life by injecting a cocktail of medications.

To make a will so that patients can die without having to endure excessive pain is to protect the decency of life. To try and keep a terminally ill patient alive is not necessarily the humane thing to do.

Shi Ben (Beijing Youth Daily): The legalization of living wills is a boon to patients who can no longer face having to undergo excessive treatment. In their last weeks and days on Earth, patients often tend to find themselves unable to express their real intentions or to even speak at all. They can only passively endure extreme pain until they eventually die. With living wills legally available, they can decide whether to be tube-fed or ventilated or resuscitated and so on. As this will is legally binding, testators won't have to worry about family members or doctors tampering with it. Living wills not only relieve testators of their pain but also help to save medical resources.

Many family members of terminally ill patients are afraid that if they do not try their best to save their dying relative, they might be criticized by those around them, despite knowing all too well the patients are miserable. In this sense, living wills will set them free as well.

Mu Xuchong (Workers' Daily): Different from a regular will, a living will does not include property distribution after the testator has passed away. It only focuses on their quality of life.

Although living wills remain a controversial topic, a growing number of people are beginning to understand and accept it. People are increasingly adopting a more rational attitude toward death, instead of treating it as a taboo. They are realizing quality of life is more important than longevity. Besides, malady brings double misery. Physical pain aside, many patients often feel they are a burden to their families, realizing that the longer they live on, the worse their families' financial situation will get.

Shenzhen's move to legalize living wills has granted terminally ill patients the right to choose: to receive treatment or not to receive treatment. But there must be clear standards, for patients and hospitals alike, as to what can be done and what cannot.

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

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