Many people take for granted that invasive research on animals is justified because of the supposed benefits that it confers, and because of the supposed mental inferiority of animals. However, probably most people would be unwilling to sign a living will which consigns themselves to vivisection if they should ever, by misfortune, end up with a mental capacity equivalent to a laboratory animal. The benefits would be greater by far for medical science if living will signatories were to be used, and also the mental superiority boast would no longer apply. Ultimately, it is argued that vivisection would not be acceptable in a democratic society whose members are philosophically self-consistent.
See details at: A Living Will