Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

I can fully understand, and in many cases agree. However, what if she never actually said those words? Without a living will nobody knows the truth if she ever told her husband her last wishes.
This is where the courts need to be involved. To best decide if her family should decide her fate.
I still have to agree, that the family would know her better than anyone else. Her overall will to live. Her earn to be alive, how much she would want to fight the inevitable to be on this planet to her last moment.
I know that I sure don't want my husband deciding this for me, and would not put such power in his hands. My family will always know how strong my will to live is.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

This goes both ways. Perhaps she did not believe in sustaining life for so long. (And i apologize, before i said it was 15 years but according to the link 2 posts ago, it is 13). I made it clear to my parents that I would not want to be sustained for so long. The biggest problem is we don't know what she wants. Even if she had specified it, things can get "lost in translation."

Ashley, your previous story is amazing. I did not know it was possible to pull out so spontaneously. I'm not sure what exactly to make of it. I guess it's up to the court now, *sigh*

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

It is issues like this one that deeply divides America today.

In a society and government based on compromise, something like mercy killing just doesn't fit, becase there is no "middle ground". You either allow it or you don't. When everyone feels very strongly about an issue one way or another, nothing gets done except a lot of politics get thrown around.

IMHO, setting conditions for when it is acceptable just won't do because every case is subjective and hardly anyone wants the fate of a loved one to be determined by a set of arbitrary guidelines.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

It appears congress has stepped in once again.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

Im only going to comment because one of my teachers won't stop talking about it...and I got so into the debate that he stopped calling on me :-/

A few things that are important to remember...Terri is not considered legally dead, and since she can not speak for herself, a court will not approve a divorice between her and her husband. Thus, Michael can not infact move on with his life, since he is still "married".

It was also not, in the first place, Michael's immediate choice to stop life-prolonging measures: Rather than make the decision himself, Michael followed a procedure permitted by Florida courts by which a surrogate such as Michael can petition a court, asking the court to act as the ward's surrogate and determine what the ward would decide to do. Michael did this, and based on statements Terri made to him and others, he took the position that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures.

The trial court in this case held a trial on the dispute. Both sides were given opportunities to present their views and the evidence supporting those views. Afterwards, the trial court determined that, even applying the "clear and convincing evidence" standard -- the highest burden of proof used in civil cases -- the evidence showed that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures.

Just a few things from court documents....:

Over the span of this last decade, Theresa's brain has deteriorated because of the lack of oxygen it suffered at the time of the heart attack. By mid 1996, the CAT scans of her brain showed a severely abnormal structure. At this point, much of her cerebral cortex is simply gone and has been replaced by cerebral spinal fluid. Medicine cannot cure this condition. Unless an act of God, a true miracle, were to recreate her brain, Theresa will always remain in an unconscious, reflexive state, totally dependent upon others to feed her and care for her most private needs.

Although the physicians are not in complete agreement concerning the extent of Mrs. Schiavo's brain damage, they all agree that the brain scans show extensive permanent damage to her brain. The only debate between the doctors is whether she has a small amount of isolated living tissue in her cerebral cortex or whether she has no living tissue in her cerebral cortex.

And, about the videos showing her moving and reacting:(court document)

At first blush, the video of Terry Schiavo appearing to smile and look lovingly at her mother seemed to represent cognition. This was also true for how she followed the Mickey Mouse balloon held by her father. The court has carefully viewed the videotapes as requested by counsel and does find that these actions were neither consistent nor reproducible. For instance, Terry Schiavo appeared to have the same look on her face when Dr. Cranford rubbed her neck. Dr. Greer testified she had a smile during his (non-videoed) examination. Also, Mr. Schindler tried several more times to have her eyes follow the Mickey Mouse balloon but without success. Also, she clearly does not consistently respond to her mother. The court finds that based on the credible evidence, cognitive function would manifest itself in a constant response to stimuli.



And ive used enough of my copy/paste key for now ;)

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

interesting. It is unconstitutional for congress to pass a law targeting one person, so I wonder how this will play out now?

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

I'd just hate to think how this will potientially affect anyone in Terri's position in the future, including those who have living wills.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

Well, I was talking to my mom about this and she said that a living will could be disputed in court by family members. It just makes it easier to have the court rule in your favor. It makes sense considering how often regular wills are disputed.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

Peter Emmett, a Christian physician, comprehensively surveyed the arguments for and against withholding or withdrawing food and fluids from PVS patients. He concluded that a satisfactory answer would appear only if humans were seen as made in the image of God. He stated that the image of God is present in all humans who have the capacity to image God, seen as some level of relational and rational abilities. In a subsequent article, he claimed that a patient in PVS "is no longer the image of God because physiological life, permanently devoid of relationality and cognition, is not adequate to be imago Dei."

Robert V. Rakestraw developed this argument further. For him, to be an image of God "presupposes some capacity, either actual or at least potential, for self-awareness and self-direction, for relationships and for the exercise of authority over creation." He concluded, "A body without neocortical functioning cannot image God . . . Neocortical destruction is both a necessary and sufficient condition for declaring an individual dead theologically."

John Jefferson Davis comes to this same conclusion. He has claimed that a patient with no potential for life, relationships or consciousness should be viewed as "biblically dead." He supported his view by noting that the soul can live without a physical body in the Intermediate State (2 Cor 5:1-8). Based on this, he concluded that in PVS it is plausible that the patient's body lives on without his or her soul.

Evangelicals are not alone in developing this type of theological argument. Schotsmans, a Roman Catholic scholar, put it this way: "The PVS patient has lost his personality, become totally dependant, cannot organize his own life. He is no longer a free human being. . . . He is socially dead . . ." The Jesuit ethicist, Kevin Wildes, wrote that with the extent of brain damage in PVS ". . . it seems impossible to argue that a substantial union of body and soul remains or that an obligation to sustain life remains."

http://www.xenos.org/ministries/cros.../donal/pvs.htm

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

Ken, I completely agree with you, especially with the part I bolded. I truly believe that her undocumented wish was to have quality of life, not quantity, and I personally would not like to be laying in a bed for fifteen years, watching my beloved husband by my side in this terrible legal battle.

It's clear that both parties love Terri very much, but I think her parents are just not ready for their daughter to go and have been trying to delay the inevitable, while her husband has accepted that she's gone, mourned the loss, and did exactly what she wanted from everyone: he moved on with his life.

I mean, I find it hard to believe that anyone's wish would be, "If I am in a hopeless vegetable state for fifteen years, I would like my family to spend all of their money keeping my heart pumping, and to spend the rest of their lives mourning me."

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

That's the problem though and basically is the whole argument of the her parents. There have been people who have actually been diagnosed with the same condition as Terri and are now alive and well.
Actually Terri has no machine hooked up to her. The only thing she actually needs is water and food through a tube.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

keeping her heart pumping in the sense that they are pumping Ensure into her stomach 4 times a day, because she has no swallow-reflex and cannot eat in a normal manner.

I wonder if the good intentioned people outside her hotspice understand that if they did bring her a glass of water and pour it in her mouth, that she would drown?

MRIs of her brain show that most of it, except the cerebal cortex, are completely gone, and have been replaced by spinal fluid. There is nothing there that can recover. Brain cells do not grow back.

All the doctors that have examined her and her tests came to the same conclusion, there is nobody in there, and she will never improve.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

Yeah I know. I was just providing the counter point. Fourteen years nothing is going to happen. This is a delicate issue and everyone has their own opinion.

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

Well the parents have exhausted all of there options with the latest rejection from the supremem court

Article

Re: The case of Terri Schiavo
 

My Opinion:

LET TERRI SCHIAVO LIVE!

YOU KNOW AND I KNOW WE ARE SPENDING MORE MONEY ON THESE STUPID COURT CASES THEN WE WILL SPEND ON HER HOSPITAL BILL!

WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVE MR. SCHIAVO?

I have a cousin similar to her.
My cousin was born with a situation similar to Terri's.
She has been in a wheelchair for life and is now in her 20's.
She can be fed regular food, but this has to be done with someone by her side.
She cannot speak, yet she smiles, laughs, and understands things.
Just because Terri may have had a led a normal life before she suffered of this condition does not mean she should be starved to death.

I also do not see any motive for Mr. Schiavo to care about what happens to her. The only big reason I can see for her to be dead is the fact that he can get married again.

I have read/heard bits and pieces of the story so I may have missed something.

Use all of the extra money they are spending on these court cases and non-sense battles to help try and create a way to restore people like her back to a somewhat normal life, if possible.