I wouldn't presume to speak for Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who's been living in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years. Or for her husband, who spent the first five of those years caring for her but now wants to disconnect her feeding tube. Or for her parents, who want to stop him in hopes that their daughter may undergo some degree of recovery.

Nor would I presume to speak for the many members of Congress who've climbed into the fray legislatively. Or for the talking heads whose voices have way too much amplification as it is.

But if the circus surrounding Schiavo's hospital bed has taught the rest of us anything, it's the importance of speaking for ourselves while we're able to do so. That means we need a living will that states our wishes, and a power of attorney for health care that names a family member or other agent to carry out those wishes or make decisions on our behalf.

You'd think we would have learned this lesson by now from two other highly publicized cases: Karen Ann Quinlan in 1975, and Nancy Cruzan in 1983. Both of their families waged epic battles against hospitals and courts before being allowed to disconnect their loved ones from life support equipment.

But apparently we have not learned the lesson well enough. The vast majority of patients entering the hospital still don't have a living will or power of attorney. And even for those who have such documents, there's no guarantee their wishes will win out if squabbling family members or squeamish hospital personnel intervene.

What does it take, then, to make one's desires crystal clear? Having the living will notarized would help. So would videotaping yourself explaining your advance directive so that nobody can doubt it's really you speaking or mistake your true intent.

But given the extraordinary intervention of Congress and demagoguing of cable TV and talk radio in the Schiavo case, there's a real question as to whether the standard components of a living well go far enough in the current climate.

Perhaps the template furnished by the American Bar Association and other consumer groups needs to be updated to take into account any sudden interest by strangers who never cared much how you lived but now want a hand in how you die.

In addition to spelling out when and whether a person wants which kinds of medical intervention, the living will of this millennium should be prepared with some other contingencies in mind.

1. Which interest group, if any, may claim to speak on your behalf? Democrats; Republicans; Naderites; Christian Coalition; American Civil Liberties Union; B'nai B'rith; NAACP; NOW; NASCAR.

2. Which part of government would you prefer to be issuing dictates to your family? Executive; legislative; judicial; federal, state, county, city or township.

3. Which media properties may use your case as fodder? ABC; CBS; NBC; CNN; MSNBC; Fox; Sinclair; Air America; National Public Radio; National Enquirer; The Drudge Report; Salon.com; Martha Stewart.

4. In what kind of political crisis will you consent to have your case bandied about as a distraction? Illegal campaign contributions; sex with an intern; war; bribery; kickbacks; conflict of interest; changing Social Security; an election.

5. To whom should the hospital send your medical bills if insurance won't cover them and family can't pay? Sean Hannity; Bill O'Reilly; Ann Coulter; Tom DeLay, Bill Frist; Dennis Hastert; Jeb Bush; George W. Bush; Jon Stewart; Al Franken; Janeane Garofalo; Michael Moore; Donald Trump.

6. Whom do you designate to cook, clean, shop, drive car pool and pay the mortgage in case a protracted battle consumes your family members? Your spouse; your parents; your children; the governor; the president.

7. If your advance directive is heeded, thereby saving vast amounts of time, energy and money, where would you like to see those resources invested instead? Finding a cure for AIDS; improving education; protecting the environment; controlling the price of prescription drugs; covering every family with health insurance.