This sounds like a moral issue, when in fact it is a simple practical question that should be asked: Who pays for the electricity that goes to the plug? The short answer is that it is his decision and whatever he decides, the decision is correct. But let's go a little deeper and see why it is thought to be a moral issue. At its roots, it is indeed a moral issue, but when people talk about this, it is not the issue that they are concerned with, but with the decision to pull the plug. They don't look at the fundamental principles which lay behind, but look superficially at a life which is about to end and are ready to blame it on the first person they see. Even worse, the person who pays for the electricity does the same thing, feels in some undefined way responsible and is afraid to take a decision. And the worst, the society in which we live punishes him if he were to pull the plug.
The reason for all this is the morality of misery created, developed and raised to the level of virtue by the greatest imbecile that has ever lived on this planet: Immanuel Kant. He practically invented the concept of duty and made us all (except me and a few others) believe that we have a duty to nobody knows exactly who. In the case presented here, it is generally believed that the hospital, the doctors and an entire list of people selected by arbitrary criteria have the duty to keep the patient alive no matter what. The truth is not out there where agent Mulder would look for, but here, on this web page and I am happy to reveal it to you: You do not have a duty to anybody. This includes patients, society, friends, relatives, parents, children, spouses, the sick, the handicapped, the stupid, the disadvantaged, the unlucky and everybody else. The only person you have a duty to is yourself. It is your responsibility to make arrangements with whoever you think appropriate - the hospital, the relatives, the insurance company, etc. - to keep you on life support if the case arises. Keep in mind that they do not have a duty to you either so they might refuse your demand. If your money ran out and the doctor pulls the plug, he does not violate your right to life, because the only way rights can be violated are through physical force (see issue nr. 1 for more details), he merely stops doing what he had been doing before to keep you alive. He was doing it not because of the duty he had to you, but because of the money you were paying him.
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