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This is particularly vital in the context of life-ending decisions, where the stakes are ultimate and irreversible. The capacity to make a decision as serious as ending one’s own life is contingent upon the ability to understand all relevant information, retain it, use it and weigh it in the decision-making process—and to communicate that decision coherently. If a person lacks any of these abilities, they do not meet the threshold for capacity, and it is both lawful and ethical to conclude that they may not be able to make such a decision.