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And now the Florida Supreme Court has issued a death sentence to someone that cannot care for themselves. Yesterday was a sad day indeed.
Quote:
Unanimous Florida Supreme Court Strikes Down Special Law That Overrides Medical Decisions in Terri Schiavo Case
September 23, 2004
http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=16537&c=27
All I can say is that if it were me in her situation, I'd never want to live the way she's been living. She is in a "permanent vegetative state", and her parents have been fighting her husband to keep her alive. This is why I have a living will, and my parents and my husband both know I don't want to be kept alive on life support. She has a feeding tube in her stomach, she wears diapers, and she doesn't know what's going on around her. The only thing she's able to do is breathe for herself. IMO, letting her go with some kind of dignity (if there's still time for that) is the only humane thing to do.
And the kicker is the HUSBAND is supposed to have some say in this but he doesn't and that alone pisses me off, not to mention she is brain dead. What are these people thinking, that it's gods will? Sometimes I support these things because I think people have a right to govern their own local communities but to me, I wonder if the family really has their daughters BEST interest in perspective.
There appears to be alot more to this than just a euthenasia issue. Of course the web site is on Terri's side, but the information is interesting.
http://www.terrisfight.org/
Brain dead peole do respond to some stimuli. No secret there. For instance in some cases you can press a finder and the body will react. These reactions are measures and compared to known low level responses. They definitely do not imply higher level consiousness. If there was some there, then the argument is vain and cold. That means for over a decade she has lived in a personal prison of NO escape.
It is interesting reading. However, it's also, most of it, false. For every specialist they've had to say she will recover, her husband has had one who says she won't. For every accusastion they've flung at her husband (going so far as to accuse him of abusing her and putting her in this situation) there's never been any evidence indicating the accusations are true, (and these accusations were fully investigated by the police) on the other hand, there have been actions made by her husband that would point to his desire to let her go and let her be in peace.
Personally, I find their stance offensive, because we chose to let my grandmother pass away rather than subject her to a "simple tube" to feed her with. They make it sound like she would be awake and suffering the whole time she was dying, when this is completely untrue. And reading further into that website gives a clear indication of what's really driving her family...a misplaced need to please the Catholic Church.
I would never put my child thru this, and would hope that the rest of my family would have the same respect for me.
I cannot re-iterate enough how important it is to have a living will. You can go here to find out how to make a living will, and to find out the answers to any questions you may have regarding a living will.
I have worked around hundreds of people with severe disabilities for over ten years. My sweetie has had more than 25 years of experience dealing directly with them. We have both watched the video of her. We both agree that to call her brain dead is to have no clue about what you are talking about. She clearly responds, not just to "stimulus", but to her surroundings and the people therein. Thus, while she may be severely brain damaged she is far from brain dead. Could she ever "recover"? Almost certainly not.
The problem here is the husband. He is in a situation where he can benefit from her demise and so, since she cannot respond in an acceptable fashion, he holds the power of life and death over her. The parents, OTOH, have nothing to gain and wish to keep her alive. If the husband had any compassion he would let the parents maintain and care for her..... But then he wouldn't get his benefit, (an insurance policy IIRC).
The whole issue seems to me to be about greed.
I see $2.25m right here, only $600k of which is her husbands. I wonder who gets the remainder when she dies? And go ahead and read the rest of the timeline.... It's really rather incredible that the law is allowing this man to continue as her guardian.....
Watch the videos here and tell me she's brain dead....
Her husband is the one who needs killing........
I agree with your living will Deb - in fact, mine reads DNR in big red letters across the top, and is posted by my hospital bed if/when I'm admitted for whatever reason, just for that reason. No disputes, no issues, no litigation. It's signed by me, my attorneys, and 2 witnesses. My folks, wife, and kids can all grieve over my rotting corpse after it's dead rather than keep me alive with machines.
From the very little i read, the above seems to be very true. From the little i could bring myself to watch, i would have to agree with Tiger and his Sweety. The lady is not in a brain dead state what so ever. Brain damaged, beyond repair at todays level of medicine, without doubt.Quote:
The whole issue seems to me to be about greed.
The husband has started a new life and whilst i would not pretend to hold any morale high ground. There is a vested interest outside of his relationship with his wife.
Life Insurance is a racket and should be outlawed.
So wait its gods will that she is kept alive by machines and modern medicen, but modern medicen gose agenst gods will by doing things lke stem cell reasearch....sorry folks things don't swing both ways, but lets let this ase be a shineing example as to why every one needs a liveing will
There is a simple test here. What are her brain wave levels? And the issue is simple. She is incapacitated and it should be her husband that decides her fate. Do we want to change presidence and let family members step in when it's our decision to remove or keep a child or spouse alive on life support?
I can't help but think, if she really is consious then she trapped and If she is in a vegitative state then she doesn't know the existance of anything. Seems either scenario lends to the decision the husband made? Anyway after looking around the site I didn't see any mention of her brainwave activity. There is alot about what constirutes a "vegetative" state that I did not know. For instance they have much higher motor skills than I previously thought possible. Both sides seem to have some misconceptions hanging about... The American Academy of Neurology defines PVS as:
"Patients in PVS have sleep-wake cycles but remain completely unaware of themselves or their environments and are incapable of any kind of voluntary movement. They do not have the capacity to experience pain or suffering. Pain and suffering are attributes of consciousness requiring cerebral cortical functioning, and patients who are permanently and completely unconscious cannot experience these symptoms.”
cerebral cortical functioning? That's interesting I would wonder at this point what her analysis is on this section of the brain? I went on to research the Glasglow Coma Scale... here's the deal. As we get along in medical research the lines are becoming blurred! Patients will even go into and out of varying states of consiousness. As time progresses. That does not mean recovery by any means, but a definite slope in the actual state a patient may be in. This complicates things most definitely. :confused: So I apply my own wishes, which may not be that of others. Placing me in the the same state. I would choose to die, and her husband made that choice for her, he says she communicated that to him. Whether he is telling the truth or not should not matter from my point of view. The greater good is we won't all end up on a bed living in a silent world for 20 years or more and we can decide what is best for our children and loved one's who trusted us with that decision.