Terri Schiavo - What's your opinion?

[survivor]

Can you in good conscience tell me that Terri really wants to die this way?

If I turn the question back to you: Can you in good conscience tell me that Terri really want to live this way?

Visit any palliative care unit and you will see that terminally ill patients rather die in dignity than live a life with no quality. Recognize it or not, Terri Schiavo is terminal.

Please let her die in dignity. Her parents should be ashamed. If they really love her, instead of going to court to fight whatever, they should spend most of their time by their daughter, cherishing it, knowing that the inevitable will come.

 

[newbieatthis]

How is being starved to death "death with dignity"?? You wouldn't do that to a dog, but to a person???

Logic demands you prove a positive, not a negative. The burden is on your side, to prove she wouldn't want to live. All you have is the word of her cheating husband, who stands to gain a huge financial gain from her death (at first it was a trust fund, but the money is gone), now he's going to get book and movie deal money...

He moved on with his life by taking another woman.

If I turn the question back to you: Can you in good conscience tell me that Terri really want to live this way?

Visit any palliative care unit and you will see that terminally ill patients rather die in dignity than live a life with no quality. Recognize it or not, Terri Schiavo is terminal.

Please let her die in dignity. Her parents should be ashamed. If they really love her, instead of going to court to fight whatever, they should spend most of their time by their daughter, cherishing it, knowing that the inevitable will come.

 

[Minnesotah]

Live and let's die

I also don't trust scientists too much these days. Remember the recent article that came out that "lobsters feel no pain when they're boiled"?? Have you EVER heard the sounds that a lobster makes when it's boiled? IT's terrible! They surely feel pain, are those screams of joy? It's being boiled alive and is going through hell!

I understand your point, but that's life cycle. When an animal kills another one for eating it or just for fun (like a cat does), it is life cycle. When you ship cows or pigs to the meat processing plant, you need to do it because you need to eat for living. Even when you eat salad, fruits or veggies, you eat something alive. They continue to ripe and you eat them. When you stop to think about this, that's weird, but you do what you gotta do.

Also, about Terri Schiavo's case, give her a break. She has no more life (at least, quality of life). If I am right, the most she can do by herself is breathing. This is not good. I don't want to live what she lives right now. In her situation, it is sure that I would prefer to die.

 

[louisisgreat]

When In Doubt, You Give Terri The Benefit Of The Doubt!

If I turn the question back to you: Can you in good conscience tell me that Terri really want to live this way?

Visit any palliative care unit and you will see that terminally ill patients rather die in dignity than live a life with no quality. Recognize it or not, Terri Schiavo is terminal.

Please let her die in dignity. Her parents should be ashamed. If they really love her, instead of going to court to fight whatever, they should spend most of their time by their daughter, cherishing it, knowing that the inevitable will come.

I can tell you in good conscience if Terri can tell me one way or the other of her decision, life will be a lot simpler. But since she cannot, that is why you have to give her the benefit of the doubt instead of violating her rights in very cruel and inhuman way of starving her to death. You call this "let her die in dignity"? Please don't tell me you want to play God!

Let me draw an analogy to criminal law here. In our legal system, we do not convict anyone of a crime unless if the prosecutors can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the criminal is guilty of a crime. Can you tell me you can prove beyond reasonable doubt that Terri wants to die this way? Or please tell me with your good conscience that you can prove beyond reasonable doubt that she wants to die at all? And please don't tell me you can read Terri's mind while other people cannot.

Don't you think that there are better ways of letting someone die in dignity? But obviously, this is not the point here. Terri's right to life is clearly violated. Real criminals and murderers are treated better than Terri if you ask me!

By the way, won't it be nice if you give your handle name 'survior' to Terri so she becomes a survior?

Louis

 

[Minnesotah]

How is being starved to death "death with dignity"?? You wouldn't do that to a dog, but to a person???

Whatever it is a pet or farm animals, most of us will kill them rather than seeing suffering and having pain. Terri Shievo is in her hospital room for 15 years and people, media and politicians are fighting eachother about shall she
continue to life artificially or slowly die. Maybe some of you are right about why don't give her a quick relief and give her a lethal shot. Technically, it would be murder, but actually is more an assisted suicide (since she can't do by herself). Without the machines, she dies. So, making the things faster would be the same as letting her starving to die. So, does it is really an assisted suicide?

 

[EagerBeaver]

First of all, you guys all should see the movie "Million Dollar Baby" which deals with this very issue.

Second, IMHO, those who would force this woman to be kept alive are utter hypocrites who, if they were ever themselves afflicted with a horribly painful cancer or leukemia, would be screaming for euthenasia. Why don't you <...> go to a hospital some time and watch a person who has terminal leukemia suffer miserably to the death. I have done it, I watched someone who had leukemia suffer HORRIBLY until he died. You go and do it and you would be ashamed at some of the things posted in this thread.

 

[Consult]

Being cold and rational...

There is something absolutely cynical in seeing the hardcore right rally on this case when their energy would be spent a LOT more productively in helping people who can still be helped.

The day I see the US senate hold a special meeting to find ways to supplement poor mother's diet or prevent crack babies from being born handicapped, i'll start believing that all the hooplah around Teri Schiavo's is something other than political exploitation.

Each dollar and each ounce of energy being spent on the Schiavo case has been lost... all that time and money could have saved hundreds of lives. When Teri Schiavo finally passes away, we'll indirectly be burying all the lives that could have been saved.

Personally, i believe that humanity should behave like people stuck in a lifeboat. A dollar spent on Teri Schiavo is a dollar NOT spent on medical care for someone who has a chance of living.

Keeping a brain dead patient alive should only be done once minimal medical care has been provided to people who still have a future.

 

[hornyanglo66]

Hopefully none of you are never in this situation yourself and have someone else decide if you live or die. Then again, after seeing some of the comments I think it would be very good if you were in that state....

When all hope is gone then mankind deserves to be wiped out as a totality, not as individuals....

 

[Lone Rider]

Imagine being in 1600

Medical innovation has given human beings the ability to live longer and healthier then ever before. Just imagine being in 1600. Living expectancy was around 45-50 y/o tops. Today, we are close to 80 y/o. This is wonderful but this can also be a double edged sword.

If Terri Schaivo would have been living in the 1600's, she would have been long gone by now. I think that this is simply incredible that her fhusband, the state and payers have tolerated to see her live in this state for not 15 months, but 15 YEARS!!! Because of medical technology, she was able to live that long an unproductive life, in misery, just an empty shell. Her parents are being very self centered and should let go.

She has no hope of ever being a functional human being. Her brain is dead. I think that in the animal world or in any other human society before the 20 and 21st century, she would have passed away. I call this abuse of therapeutic resources.

I am glad to see that Terri Schaivo will finally be able to rest in peace.

Lone Rider

 

[survivor]

How is being starved to death "death with dignity"?? You wouldn't do that to a dog, but to a person???

Terri Schiavo is in a vegetative state. She is brain dead. It is the brain that controls hunger and thirst. She no longer feels hunger and thirst for a long time. What her parents are doing to her is just FORCING her to live. Terri Schiavo does not feel anything anymore.

 

[jeffrey_fortin]

She will finally being able to go ....hope so

In that story, I just hope that she will be able to leave here, and still being stuck in this dimension.

i may sound strange but I believe that our soul (or whatever you may call that) is going to another dimension if his work is done, or go back to another live somewhere and continue what she or he is suppose to achieve.

Bless you Terri and leave in peace...go to your next challenge.

By for now

Jeffrey

 

[hornyanglo66]

She also weighed 200 lbs. before developing the eating disorder that killed her.

..and what does that have to do with anything? Also it did not kill her.... starvation is killing her.

Besides, you are wrong in the statement that the eating dosorder put her in this condition. It has been stated that it is highly unlikely Terri's condition was caused by a potassium imbalance. Also, x-rays taken shortly after her admittance show signs of several broken bones repairing themselves.

 

[hornyanglo66]

Are you really that bitter and twisted?

If you have no hope then what life are you living?

 

[hornyanglo66]

Terri Schiavo is in a vegetative state. She is brain dead. It is the brain that controls hunger and thirst. She no longer feels hunger and thirst for a long time. What her parents are doing to her is just FORCING her to live. Terri Schiavo does not feel anything anymore.

Then why morphine for pain?

 

[newbieatthis]

Heard on CNN today: "Her family doesn't want the husband to cremate her because they are Catholic and it's against their religion." The person who made this incredible statement had said a bit earlier that people were so "terribly misinformed" on the issue....




Chloë

Her husband is planning on having an autopsy performed. If her really just wanted to end her suffering, why is he trying to prove a point then?? Could it be for the book deals "I was right!!!"... Further proof he's a lying scumbag.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/29/schiavo/index.html

 

[dmon59]

Jesse Jackson is nothing but an attention whore. He is doing nothing more than feeding off the media attention. Give me a break - On Monday he is putting forth that racial motives are behind Michael Jackson's little boy lovin' legal troubles & on Tuesday he is praying with the Shindlers.

Please Jesse go back under the rock from where ever you came because all you do is suck the credibility out of any issue you associate with.

That being said Terri Schiavo's plight is indeed a sad one, but after fifteen years I don't think she would ever recover any meaningful life - to her family let her go

 

[JustBob]

Breaking News: In a move to ease the pain of right wing religious zealots, Shiavo's feeding tube has just been re-inserted into the Pope.

 

[survivor]

Just because he says something you agree with doesn't mean that he isn't a joke . I agree about the methodology issue as well.

I thought I read that the likely cause of her heart problem was a severe potassium deficiency . I'm sure it's more complicated but I don't think anyone is suggesting anything untoward occurred .

Train, you are right. It was secondary to severe potassium defiency. Potassium is the most important ion in the human body. Her eating disorder caused her to lack in potassium and a potassium deficit (even a little) lead to her heart attack. It is not really that more complicated.

 

[newbieatthis]

Train, you are right. It was secondary to severe potassium defiency. Potassium is the most important ion in the human body. Her eating disorder caused her to lack in potassium and a potassium deficit (even a little) lead to her heart attack. It is not really that more complicated.

Does potassium taste horrible? I remember going to the emergency room as a child, and another person there was told to drink some potassium, and the nurse said it's not the best tasting. I can't remember the person's reaction... Maybe she should have just had 100 bananas..

 

[Minnesotah]

If you want an idea about potassium taste, it is also used in fertilizers. Yummy. I'll pass my turn.