Of you’re in Canada a DNR (do not resuscitate) will not be honoured unless it is an official form, signed by your attending physician (or qualifying party). The form is registered. DNRs in Canada are basically intended for individuals who are terminal with little-to-no-chance-of-recovery hence why it has to be signed by a qualifying party. They are registered in a central database (not sure if the database is provincial or federal) that can be retrieved by the hospital. Who knows, maybe your health card is flagged with the DNR?

Self-made DNRs aren’t recognized, at least from what I understand. Not in Canada at least. I would assume due to the potential legal ramifications. The official DNR probably isn’t fool proof either as people make mistakes. There’s a lot of people out there that don’t understand another person’s desire to live, no different than your non-understanding (perhaps) of another’s desire to live as long as possible, this last one is something that boggles my mind. Why would someone want to live for as long as possible?! It boggles my mind.

As for your right to die whenever you want to… I fully agree. There was a time in history that suicide was accepted, ancient Greeks for example could ask their local magistrate for a toxic potion which was kept under lock. I believe the concoction was hemlock. Suicide was acceptable. Over time with the entrance of religion and the Laws of Morality (Christianity for example) the view shifted from being acceptable to being a violation of “the natural order” and going against “gods plan”. Things are gradually shifting away from the Laws of Morality with the introduction of Right to Die legislations around the world. Canada’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Canadian’s right to die and mandated our government to forge news laws as such. These laws were supposed to be finalised for February 2016 but they might be delayed. I digress. Regardless, the view is shifting but ones choice remains elusive still unless one qualifies under the laws governing such.