When it comes to end-of-life decisions, what should be most important are a person’s wishes, not the color of the form or whether a doctor has signed off on it.

Maine law currently requires that “Do Not Resuscitate” orders must be printed on blaze orange paper and include the signature of a doctor. Other forms of advanced directives, including living wills, do not carry the force of law, putting first responders, medical staff and families in difficult positions.

State Sen. Bruce Bryant has introduced legislation that would update the law and put the priority on carrying out the wishes of the patient, not on the bureaucratic hoops of a particular form.

After the controversy involving Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who became embroiled in a right-to-die case when her husband tried to withdraw her life support, many people rushed to formalize their decisions with advance directives, instructions for their care should they become incapacitated. Eventually, Schiavo was allowed to die, but not before her family was torn asunder and Congress became – to its own detriment – involved.

End-of-life decisions should be considered carefully. As difficult as it is to discuss death with the people you care about, it’s much worse for them to be forced to make a care decision on their own.

Changing the rules on DNRs is not a job to be taken lightly. Emergency responders, doctors and nurses face enough obstacles in their work already without making it tougher to decipher a person’s wishes. When it comes down to it, they must always err on the side of saving a life if instructions are unclear.

But Bryant’s law would move the state forward and place the emphasis where it belongs: On a person’s right to decide what medical treatment they want.