Absolutely true.6. All adults have the right to make decisions that are viewed poorly by others, even ones that are detrimental to health. Think smoking, for example. Or a poor diet. Or frequent, casual sex, with or without protection and/or birth control.
I have been allowed to refuse emergency medical treatment when I could have died - more than once. ( One time I had lost half the blood in my body.)
And my capacity is questioned constantly. But I can always prove I understand the situation, and the consequences (certain, likely, and only possible) of any decision I make -- plus how I will handle those consequences.
There is depending on what country, and state/province/territory you live in.I don't believe there's such a thing as a medical- only guardianship.
Where I live guardianship orders can apply to all decisions or only some. So a medical-decisions-only guardianship order would be possible; I'm also fairly sure that it's possible to specify only certain types of medical decisions are to be made for a represented adult by their guardian -- not all of their medical decisions.
In my province there are also court orders that mandate or facilitate supported decision-making, without actually taking the authority of final say away from the supported adult -- they are called "supported decision making orders" and "co-decision-making orders.
Supported decision making orders exist mainly to give the supporters easier access to private information; They name individuals who are legally authorized to obtain information necessary to make the specified decisions on behalf of the supported adult, and to assist them in communicating their decisions.
Co-decision making orders are basically the same as supported decision making orders except (one of, if there are more than one) the named co-decision-maker(/s) must be consulted by/discuss with the supported adult any specified decisions before the supported adult's decision is accepted. The supported adult retains the right to make a decision that the co-desicion maker disagrees with or disapproves of.
These two types of court order are alternatives to any amount of guardianship and are used mostly for people who need help to understand their options and/or communicate their choice to others.