Terri Schiavo

[Dude_Doc]

We have the freedom to die. There is no Terminator-code in us that doesn't allow us to commit suicide. Though, we have to consider our friends, our family and so on. Other people are afraid that they are going to hell.

I think the whole thing is already wicked. The government of Bush keeps talking about democracy, freedom, and God protects America. They talk about human rights and that "playing God" is what doctors and scientists are doing when they must use techniques that in the future could save millions, maybe even cure or prevent cases like Terri.

But in the dark, they aren't mush better. Aren't they playing God themselves when they choose other countries destinies and governments? Aren't they playing God when they send CIA to decide what person is going to live, and who is considered a "terrorist"? They do it right there, in Guetemala Base on Cuba.

And just like Edric quoted: there are far worse things going on every day in the world. But of course, now that Michael Jackson is uninteresting news, they have to find something else. And really, is Terri the only case in all of the United States?

[Dante]

At the risk of sounding cruel (heh, when has that ever bothered me?), I think it's got past the stage of a simple battle between the parents and the husband. The issue has now been taken up on national and international levels, with politicians getting involved. This should never have happened, but it has. Regardless of whether she is brain dead or merely severely brain damaged, this case is one of euthanasia, and a precedent will be set.

Terri Schiavo is no longer a person, she is a means to an end for everyone involved. They wish to express their opinions, and use her to bring about a goal. Some wish to use her life as a method by which to make euthanasia difficult in future. Others believe that if she is truly in a vegetative state, she should be allowed to rest. Personally, I think that the causes have now overtaken the person, and that for the good of everyone in the US who wishes to end their life, Terri Schiavo must die.

On a side note, I do agree with Mahdi that starvation is hardly the best way to go about things. Personally I'd poison her. Painlessly of course.

[Dude_Doc]

Terri Schiavo is no longer a person, she is a means to an end for everyone involved. They wish to express their opinions, and use her to bring about a goal. Some wish to use her life as a method by which to make euthanasia difficult in future. Others believe that if she is truly in a vegetative state, she should be allowed to rest.

I think this is true. The people involved don't care very much about Terri herself (except her parents, friends and boyfriend/husband). She is the "thing" the press has on it's frontpage. She is the "example" for both one and the other side of the debate.

[GUNWOUNDS]

Out of legitimate curiosity, could you point me to a source on this?

[GUNWOUNDS]

I've found a site that's based on the "keep her alive" front.

[ps501]

I personally don't view the question as to her current mental capacity.  (AKA veggie vs retarded) but if it was her wish not to live in a state like this, who is anyone to say she has to live, if her wish was to die.  Bascially its her parents word (she would want to live like this) vs her husbands word (Terri specifically said after a movie we saw together that she didn't want to live like this)

If you believe a person has the right to choose life or death, then its down to your choice if you believe her parents or her husband.  (Would you personally, today, right now, choose to trade your quality of live for hers?)

Though I did read a blurb from a guy in California that offered $1,000,000 to her husband if he re-inserts the tube... So I don't believe this to be about money. (There is a court order out there that froze her husbands settlement from the lawsuit, though he only received $300,000; of which only $50,000 remains which he does receive upon death)

I sincerely think that her husband is following the wishes of his wife.

May I die quickly as a healthy happy 65 (or 40) year old, than 99 year old in a nursing home, unable to speak, walk, hooked into every machine known to man.

For me personally, "living" is about quality, not quanity.

[Megashrap]

  One things for sure, wether she dies or at the last second gets the feeding tube back, I foresee a HUGE rise in people obtaining Living Wills.

I'll be on that list as well. I'll be damned if I let some left, right, political or media goofball decide how I live out my final days, months or years. What a sad ass over blown freak show this has turned out to be.

[TMA_1]

an overdose of morphine? that would be extremely painful. Or are you just referring to keeping her extremely sedated mahdi?

[ps501]

an overdose of morphine? that would be extremely painful. Or are you just referring to keeping her extremely sedated mahdi?

Morphine overdoses aren't painful.  Basically when a person gets too much morphine (aside from having zero pain) their breathing stops.  Its not an uncommon practice how people die today.

[TMA_1]

hmm, opiate overdoses are generally the same, and they dont look pretty, and I have heard they dont feel good either. I could very well be wrong though.

[GUNWOUNDS]

well its over.... she will be dead in a few days if not already.

[ordos45]

Have to agree, I'm surprised she's made it this long...

[TMA_1]

Even though this is a very specific case of taking somebody off a form of life support, do you guys still think this might make some sort of precedent in the court system that might create more issues like the schiavo situation? Do you guys think more of these things might pop up in america?

[Andrew]

Well, most people now would be updating their wills so this bullshit doesn't happen.

I thought a person could only live a week with no food/water?

Guess when you sit in a bed and don't move a muscle, you don't waste energy.

This event has reminded me that an aunt of mine a couple of years ago while dieing of cancer had a blood clot or something blow up in her head and she went pretty much brain dead. Yet she would sleep, be awake, blink eyes (not communicatively), breathe, but not really do much else and could not communicate as far as I remember. I was only there for 3 hours, so I don't remember the exacts of what she could do/not do. Quite hard on the family. I think they just kept her on IV until she died, and she lasted more than a week. Probably why an aunt that was dieing of cancer a year after that, did not want to suffer like the other and she died a month after finding out about having cancer. Although she was going to chemotherapy, just didn't suffer as long as the other aunt, which made it more of a shock as there was no preparation for her death unlike the other one which had more than a year to prepare for the death, which involved all the legal stuff, trips with family members, and what to exactly do when she dies.

When someone goes brain dead and no chance of "coming back" there is not much point in keeping them alive, and not much point to be alive. It is much easier on the family if the person dies, just if a family sees a dead family member, rather than the person just gone "missing" (had a student this winter disapear after going to the bars, last seen walking across a bridge, thought to have fallen in water, but no exacts and no body). It is all about closure. Having a brain dead wife in the hospital is not much closure for anyone.

[danielsh]

Well, most people now would be updating their wills so this bullshit doesn't happen.

Sorry, I have to post this.

From Get Your War On, at http://www.mnftiu.cc/ .

[Anathema]

I read somewhere that the neurologist who said Terri wasn't PVS hadn't even personally examined her, but had watched a video tape that was 2 years old at that time. Can anyone confirm this?

[ordos45]

Haven't heard about the nuerologist.  She's still alive today, and there's some sort of appeal being granted again.  Even if the were to hook her back up now, wouldn't there be some sort of internal damage or something?  I feel sorry for all sides involved...the parents, the husband, the protestors to an extent even.

[DasHogg]

From what I read on an estonian news site, she's dead.

[Andrew]

Yep. Dead. Millions are saddened that she died according to bush. Quite frankly I would be more jubilous that her struggle is over than saddened that she died. Everyone dies, and it is not like it was a shock that she was going to die soon.

[Dude_Doc]

Frankly, they could have done it better. She was still a woman, not some object disputed over.

[exatreide]

Anyone see the south Park Parady? Woah, Ahh how can anyone not like that show....? I mean honestly

[Megashrap]

Yep. Dead. Millions are saddened that she died according to bush. Quite frankly I would be more jubilous that her struggle is over than saddened that she died. Everyone dies, and it is not like it was a shock that she was going to die soon.

  Agreed, I mean putting the damn feeding tube back in days afterwards would've only attributed more towards torture I would think. But the Circus show continues, now it's the Autopsy, then the actual burial place. Other than that, the only thing Landmark here is get your damn affairs in order earlier.

[Anathema]

I think that the breach on the Trias Politica caused by the Congress and the president have set an ominous precedent. Has anybody read what DeLay has been saying about the judicial branch? He intends to punish them for what they did here. I'd be pretty scared if I were an American.

[Edric O]

Yes, and the executive already seems to have considerable power over the judicial in the US, with the presidential appointment of Supreme Court justices... With that in mind, the fact that many politicians don't seem to understand the concept of separation of powers is downright scary.

[theclansman1911]

I for one am glad it's finally over. Seriously, this is probably one of the most overblown issues i've ever heard of. The woman was braindead....some guy here in India said that we should not mess with nature and therefore we should keep her alive...is it just me, or does anyone else see the fault in that statement?

Hopefully they won't try to argue over reanimating the body.