What do you all think of the Terri Schiavo case now?

What do you all think of the Terri Schiavo situation? I won't even bother to counter act any one's personal opinions here... but I just want to know how much of this case you're all in agreement or disagreement with.

Right now, Terri Schiavo is scheduled to die by dehydration/hunger through the removal of the feeding tube in the hostpital in 4days time... it seems her husband, who had well over a decade to decide her fate, is stating that "she would have wanted to go this way." On the other hand, the parent of the severely disabled person say’s that they are willing to take care of her for the rest of their days.

I can understand why a person would not want to see their loved ones linger in pain etc... it terms of the whole euthanasia thing... I won't not want to continue "living" life if I were brain dead or something... but I think this particular case goes too far now.

Since Terri Schiavo is not brain dead etc, why is it that the physician who took a Hippocratic oath in the practice of medicine should be the deliverer of such a horrid death? Through starvation and dehydration, it takes a real long time to die... the tongue swells up in the mouth... the muscles ache... I heard it's like the body is on fire... it's a slow way to go and even death row inmates have better luxury through lethal injection etc.

I am disturbed that we as a society has reached this point... not just because I am troubled by the present, but mostly because I am more troubled of where we are all heading in the future when it comes to social values on life and death... I believe we are becoming "the culture of death," where a living being has no value to life when "it" has no ability to defend its own right. The disabled can not speak... and the unborn know nothing less than its womb... yet we as people who like to believe in "equal rights" have the ability to decide on life and death... an irreversible decision?

Today my friends, we are young... and many probably believe that we won't ever be dependent on others through medical care any time soon... we won't ever be in a vegetated state... it's just that "other guy or gal."... But oh no… not me.

I once told my friend once... that if I had been involved in a car accident... and I was in a vegetated stated... I don't want to live life anymore... because life is not worth living when you already tasted it but can’t truly live it. At this point in time... I guess I still think that wayl... BUT I don't want my parents or my future wife or kids to decide if they should take my life due to such a damning disability... this is MY life... right?

Only if that severely disabled lady of ~15yrs had that ability to voice her opinions... and probably it's even possible to see it through her smiles and simple gestures she makes with her parents etc...


Either way, it's a shame she did not have a legal living will that has her views in writing... so in the end we don't even know what she truly wants… her life is now to come to an end through a man that had ~15yrs to “have known” that she “want” to not live life… 15yrs… and all this time this man has a girl friend and kids etc… 15yrs.










Anyways... that's my view. Here is a good site about this lady:

http://www.terrisfight.org/center.html

"Yes they deserve to die, I hope they burn in hell!"
-Dave Chappelle

edit: No way in hell did I actually read all that text.

Poignant

Excellent post, C. A. R25. Euthanasia is such a polarizing subject and because both sides have very valid points and views, I don't think all of us will ever come to an agreement over what's the ethical proper and improper way of dealing with the severely disabled. So many different facets of human nature and sensitivity come into play on this.

I, personally, feel that when a loved one becomes ultimately dependent on life support to simply exist rather than to allow enough time to eventually heal, it's up to the family to decide his/her fate. The living will is certainly important, but when one doesn't exist, the choice should fall upon the loved ones. Not the government, not complete strangers with millions to blow. Is the choice ever easy or the "right" one to make? No, because who really knows what to do when that happens? What was left up to divine power and chance now lies in the hands of a family who's losing one of their own.

If it's proven that no change will ever occur and the likelihood for a cure or rehabilitation is in the works, I feel it's time to say goodbye. While the decision should truly be made on a case-by-case consideration, I know that if I were in a vegetative state and there was no hope, I wouldn't want to hang around. Prolonging the slow torture of endless medical life support does not make sense to me, as I would want my family to let me pass away peacefully.

In Terri's case, there must be a cleaner way to allow her to pass. I feel it's cruel to literally allow her to rot in bed and the comparison made to death row inmates is as accurate as can be. Why should murderers "suffer" a near painless death while unfortunate victims of circumstance die a grueling death?

This is a very sad case for many reasons and I hope that when it's finally time for Terri to pass on, should it come by hand, it's done tastefully with loving respect.

---

Bryan.

This is a really sad case, and when I read the news blurbs it was almost too much of a decision to weigh.

I didn't really think about the actual physical process she would go through during starvation. And if she is mentally alive enough to smile, is she mentally capable of experiencing this horrific physical pain. What kind of faces will she be making?

The photos of her make my heart ache.

Her husband is the catalyzing factor in whether she lives or dies. But her parents according to your post said they would "care for her all the days of her life(sic)."

Isn't that what all parents would do for a child they brought into this world? Yet at the same time, what parent would want their child to keep on suffering for countless more years to come, versus suffering a short period and then being 'free'?

Such a sad issue. And I really am not even sure which the right course of action would be.

She's a big faker.

darn it shes coherant and all just brain damaged and retarded now? what happened to her?

and they just gonna lock her in a room and let her die or something? wont she screem/groan/etc saying things like FEED ME OK! YAY DINNER? THIRSTY TOO PLZ! if she can talk?

at least suffocate her or kill her with pills. if it was my brother in there i would have murdered him long ago.

Stinky-Dinkins said:

She's a big faker.

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Attention whore.

.

jro said:

Attention whore.

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Amen.

"Look at me, I can't move my body. Wah wah."

she can move but i think shes like timmy off of south park.

someday wont she be able to move around in a wheel chair and have a nourishment tank hooked up to the back so she can eat? that way she can go outside and stuff. i used to see people like that at disneyland but i havent been there in about 10 years. if they still let people like that in im sure she would like it since she laughs and dances to music etc so y they have to kill her?

FeelGood said:

she can move but i think shes like timmy off of south park.

someday wont she be able to move around in a wheel chair and have a nourishment tank hooked up to the back so she can eat? that way she can go outside and stuff. i used to see people like that at disneyland but i havent been there in about 10 years. if they still let people like that in im sure she would like it since she laughs and dances to music etc so y they have to kill her?

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TIMEYY!!!

The fact that they starve people to death IS barbaric- and it's 100% because of religion that they do it

They should give the poor wretch a lethal injection and be done with it

neobuyer said:

The fact that they starve people to death IS barbaric- and it's 100% because of religion that they do it

They should give the poor wretch a lethal injection and be done with it

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agreed. tell her its dessert and get her favorite musician to play acoustic in her room while she dies.

FeelGood said:

agreed. tell her its dessert and get her favorite musician to play acoustic in her room while she dies.

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You're like an evil version of Patch Adams.

My true feeling is that if a person is stricken with some tragic ailment or accident that destroys them mentally or leaves them comatose for a prolonged period of time, with the reasonable means of remaining that way indefinately, the family should take measures to ensure they don't keep the person alive to quell their own sense of loss. If there is a chance at survivability and recovery, and I don't mean the miniscule contengency that all doctors have to concede to every condition because science decrees the unexpected isn't the impossible, then sure, keep the person alive for a period of time. Once it has elapsed, if there is no substantial improvement, stick to your pact and let the infirmed individual go.

While this view may seem harsh or unfeeling to many who could claim, "You never know what you would do until this happens to a family member of your own, and one is unlikely to keep a view this impulsive in such a case" I respond thusly; this is currently the case for my grandfather who will surely die in a matter of days due to a conjunction of injury and ailments that have put him in a coma for over a week with no sign of improving and the decision has been made to remove his feeding tube. This was not a choice made in haste, nor was it decided in spite. He is as loved a family member as any other, but at the point when quantity of life and quality of life come to a direct confrontation the resulting situation is lose/lose.

Now, that is not to say that I agree with the manner in which he will pass. The starvation and dehydration of an individual is surely not the most humane way to die, but I guess in a society so blatantly enthralled with litigation hospitals must take matters to protect themselves from malpractice suits due to taking an active role in the death of a patient, thus leaving them with only the ability to mitigate pain and await the inevitable.

The fact that Terri isn't even in an unconscious state naturally makes this form of euthenasia all the more tragic. Frankly, it would be more humane to walk up behind her unexpectedly and fire a shotgun into her skull, but because of legal reasons her relatives must watch her die a slow death over the course of several days while she's likely drugged into oblivion. This, in itself, is reason for concern if for nothing else than in our futures there may come a time when we are laying in a bed starving to death for days with no comprehension as to why when we could have easily been given a cocktail of injections to put us down peacefully and expediantly. Not only do we give our vilest of criminals this amenity, but we afford it to our ailing pets as well. Are we not to treat our loved ones with at least as much compassion in death as we do our animals?

As for any true ethos developing which makes the death penalty, euthenasia, abortion, or suicide more conventional; its unlikely to happen. Mankind is far too afraid of the unfamiliar as a whole and nothing represents our sincere lack of knowledge like death and beyond. Sure, we have beliefs and faith, however, for all but the most zealous of us doctrine, no matter how well practiced, will not save us from panic in the face of the demise of those we care for, much less ourselves. Therefore, until all humanity embraces similar religious conviction vehemently or turns altogether atheistic with nothing more than utilitarianism as a base foundation we won't agree as a whole on these matters and the legal teams will be fighting tooth and nail over these very issues.

The idea that we are becoming a "culture of death" that devalues the rights of those who can't speak intelligently is a bit unwarranted however. While some states still enforce the death penalty it is only after an exhaustive appeals process. Though we allow for abortions we limit the time which one has the option to terminate a fetus and attempt, via birth control devices, to prevent unwanted pregnancies to begin with, we have a massive support center for the mentally ill to thwart suicide attempts and we have institutions and hostipals to give care to those unable to fend for themselves.

None of these things are perfect and there are people who slip through the cracks in any system, but when a tragic case does occur it only stands to increase the furvor of the opposition in the courts thus gaining more public attention and bolstering support for the rights of those who can't fight on their own. There is no avoiding the fact that given more resources any institution could be better maintained and mistakes would be less prevalant, but we have come quite a ways from the early days of psychiatry when "therapy" more resembled medieval torture than treatment and mobs walked up to the accused's home only to read a list of crimes and lynch him in front of his wife and children. I would be hard pressed to say we have regressed as a society after viewing actual history rather than looking at one tragic event and using it as a template by which to judge the system.

where are the humanitarians?

Every damn time I turn on the TV, there is some lunatic who is raving about how "barbaric" the US army is for pressuring terrorist for information by playing music too load, deprivation of sleep etc... They rave about how the terrorist should have lawyers... they rave about Saddam not having enough legal representation... they don't rave for Terri.

You don't hear the plight of the innocent... yet if you’re a radical professor at University of Colorado saying that America should burn, you get on TV and get a fan base... If you worship Satan and eat kittens, you’re the next best thing on Jerry Springer... if you’re retarded and are about to die a slow, painful death where the only remnants of your final hr is the indentation in the bed, messy sheets and the grimace of death… then you ent shit to anyone.

Sad but true.

I think it's absolutely catastrophic whart is happening to this woman.

C.A.R25 said:

Every damn time I turn on the TV, there is some lunatic who is raving about how "barbaric" the US army is for pressuring terrorist for information by playing music too load, deprivation of sleep etc... They rave about how the terrorist should have lawyers... they rave about Saddam not having enough legal representation... they don't rave for Terri.

You don't hear the plight of the innocent... yet if you’re a radical professor at University of Colorado saying that America should burn, you get on TV and get a fan base... If you worship Satan and eat kittens, you’re the next best thing on Jerry Springer... if you’re retarded and are about to die a slow, painful death where the only remnants of your final hr is the indentation in the bed, messy sheets and the grimace of death… then you ent shit to anyone.

Sad but true.

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Why you gotta go and spam this thread when Feelgood, Dinkins, and others were really making some valid points?

C.A.R25 said:

Every damn time I turn on the TV, there is some lunatic who is raving about how "barbaric" the US army is for pressuring terrorist for information by playing music too load, deprivation of sleep etc... They rave about how the terrorist should have lawyers... they rave about Saddam not having enough legal representation... they don't rave for Terri.

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Are you fucking stupid? If that's all you see, then maybe you have the fox Blocker installed and your TV is stuck on Channel #DOESNTFUCKING EXIST.

ALLEGED Terrorists not getting lawyers and Terri Shavo have have nothing in common.

C.A.R25 said:

You don't hear the plight of the innocent... yet if you’re a radical professor at University of Colorado saying that America should burn, you get on TV and get a fan base... If you worship Satan and eat kittens, you’re the next best thing on Jerry Springer... if you’re retarded and are about to die a slow, painful death where the only remnants of your final hr is the indentation in the bed, messy sheets and the grimace of death… then you ent shit to anyone.

Sad but true.

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Maybe we should get behind something to improve the quality of life for people like her? I dunno maybe meaningful stem cell research?

This is getting way off hand.

Someone should unplug G-Russ.

Shut up, Stinky.

No you shut up.

Your info sure suits you enough. You actually have the IQ of a ant.

Garland Russell said:

Your info sure suits you enough. You actually have the IQ of a ant.

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Better calm down with the nasty, flamming insults,

I don't want this one moved to the war room!!!!!!!