EDIT: Original thread title:
Terri Schiavo: Will be killed soon?!?![/b]

It seems this story is on every news channel as I type this, not to mention headlining the Drudge Report.

Judge Orders Removal of Feeding Tube

Congress Races to Save Her

Noonan\'s Thoughts

My quick thoughts?

The law states the husband is next of Kin, so he has the right to decide. The problem is now that he has committed adultery, is living with and has kids with another woman...he has given up the right to have legal power over his "ex" wife Terri.

Secondly, common sense says that if the mom and dad are trying everything they can to save their daughter and will take care of her, LET THEM!!!!

She isn't in a coma, she sweats when her husband comes in the room and she smiles when her mom is in the room. She follows balloons around the room with her eyes and head.

Long story short: I think since they haven't done rehab in a long time, they should try it again with her, turn her over to her parents, and who knows what could happen!! There are many stories of people in her exact condition that have come out of it and recovered.

If her feeding tube is pulled, she will starve and dehydrate to death, and anyone that has been near death via dehydration can tell you that every cell in their body burned with pain when lacking the nutrition.

I can't believe there is even a question in this case, everything points to letting her live and rehab with her parents.

Kill Bill.. Kill Bill..

I'm sorry. I'm just joking with you, 89th.

I agree - turn her over to her parents. This man may have loved her at one time, but he doesn't now, and who knows what ulterior motives he may have? Her parents brought this woman up - they know her better than anyone. She's blood-related.

Playing devil's advocate here: What happens to her when her parents die? Whose responsibility does she become at that point?

Plays - I think then her husband would take over. I would put family first.

What is the harm in waiting until her parents die before killing her.

JB that was hard[/b].

Sorry, but if we are heartless enough to kill her now why would waiting a bit longer make any difference.

The husband claims that she wished not to be kept alive if she reached this state.

If that's true then i think they should let her die.

Moonbat - he has no more proof of that than her parents do that she would want to live. That's the problem.

BTW, I have read in some newspapers characterizations like "allowing her to die" and "forcing her to live". Is feeding your children forcing them to live?

Ah i see, i don't know much about the case, I read a story on it yesterday or this morning i forget.

I guess if there is doubt then, playing safe and keeping her alive is reasonable, (though the immediate question that springs to mind is: Why would he lie? - Guess he could _really_ hate her).

In any case it seems very sad.

There's a world of difference between unplugging a machine that is acting as her heart and lungs, or denying a living being food and water. I wouldn't treat an animal like that, andwe're going to do this to a human being? Disgraceful.

My mother has told me in no uncertain terms that if she develops a debilitating mental illness like alzheimers she doesn't want to live. (Edit: Rereading that, it seems somewhat alarming, but it's not, it's something i've known for ages, i'm sure there are many other people who have similar views).

But you're right i think a large dose of morphine would be more humane than denial of food and water, but then because of the law that's not an option so, i guess difficult decisions have to be made.

I sure hope that if I'm ever incapacitated that a perfect stranger who never met me would take over my care and make the difficult decisions. No way would I want my husband to handle this in accordance with my wishes and state law.

Better yet, I would certainly hope that Congress would drop everything and hurriedly pass a bill deciding what is to be done with me. That way, I can rest assured that my situation won't be exploited for political purposes or anything.

This case sadly points as a reminder to us all to prepare a living will in the case something tragic happens in the future. We would want our wishes known about life support and it has to be in writing.

It wouldn't make any difference, fizzygirl.

Once Congress or a governor or some other politician can step in and overrule the courts on private matters like this, then they can overrule your living will, too.

What about all of the resources that she is consuming that could be put towards helping others? This treatment ain't free folks. She has been on life support since 1990 I believe. Time to pull the plug.

There wouldn't be a question if she had her living will in writing.

But there is a question...and I think the answer is obvious.

There is no plug to pull. Just starve her to death and it's over. Really humane, eh?

Her parents are perfect strangers?

My best friend's mother had MS. She signed a living will that stated if she couldn't swallow she didn't want to live by heroic measures (feeding tube). Well the time came and it was obvious she wasn't happy with it, but she couldn't feed herself or do anything at that point. She was gone within a week.

The way I see it none of us know if Terri Schaivo expressed similar feelings to her husband. My wife has said as much to me. This woman's level of consciousness is imperceptible or barely so. If she expressed that she wouldn't want to live that way why second guess the husband? I understand the parent's viewpoint no parent wants to bury a child, but maybe it's time to let go? As far as I know the husband never cheated on her while she was whole. The other woman only came into the picture after his wife was incapacitated.

So what would you want if it was you in that bed? I wouldn't want to be a burden on my wife. We've got two kids and raising them is optimally a two person job. She deserves at least conscious companionship. If it was me I'd say let me go back to God so you can get on with your life.

Blessings,

I just changed the thread title.

Her feeding tube was just removed:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050318/D88TJO280.html

Misfortunately, this poor sould has technically been dead for 15 years. What's going on now is like clutching a bouquet of dead flowers. Smart musicians know when to hang up the career - well, most of them do - it's time to know when to say goodbye...

Did she have a DNR?

When a person has Alzheimer's they slowly lose the ability to do things that are nearly autonomous responses - like swallowing. As a result, one of the things that kills many Alzheimer's patients is, in effect, starvation. Should we be sticking feeding tubes down all of those dying peoples' throats?

Terry Schiavo is no different. Her brain is complete mush. There is no EEG activity. She will *never* regain consciousness. She has a smile frozen on her face which has been exploited by her parents and the media. This smile is the *only* reason so many people have gotten up in arms about his case - because it appears that she is conscious. She isn't. For those who believe in a soul, it probably left her body years ago. And, her body would haved died years ago, but for extraorinary medical intervention that wasn't even available a few of decades ago.

Best to get that in writing, or you could find yourself in a similar situation as this family. Even without siblings who might want mom alive at any cost, someone (read: congress) could step in and muddy the waters of your mothers wish.

This is a sad case indeed, for everyone involved. But I don't understand why congress decided to stick their nose in this. The women has been in this state for 15 years and at the last minute they want her to appear before congress? Why is the quantity of life so much more important than the quality of life?

Put yourself in the shoes of this woman for a moment. What would you want your spouse to do? Obviously, there is more than one correct answer. But the correct answer for me may not be the correct answer for you. So why should I be required to defer to your truth or you to mine?

(Jesus, I can't believe I'm agreeing with Cindy on this. I'm off to check the temperature in hell. Think I might need a winter jacket. )

You couldn't be more wrong.

No, she hasn't been on life support. She's been on a feeding tube. She breathes and her heart beats all on it's own.

No, Auntie Lynn, she did not have a DNR. THat's the problem, because they courts were left to second guess what she would have wanted. THe husband maintained that she would have wanted life support removed. The court believed him. And then Jeb stuck his big Red nose in.

"Sorry, but if we are heartless enough to kill her now why would waiting a bit longer make any difference."

Whatever Terri's condition, it's just sad. If she's in a persistent vegetative state, it's sad that her parents fighting for years to keep her alive, to satisfy their own desire to get their daughter back. And if she's conscious but totally unable to respond ... unable to move, to communicate, to do anything at all ... well, that sounds an awful lot like hell to me.

By the way, 89th, on the subject of her smiling .. there was testimony in court from the nursing staff that her facial muscles make that same approximation of a smile at nighttime, when no one is in the room.

A feeding tube is life support, LD. So is an IV. Doctors make the call on this all the time. In many cases with the elderly, families end up fighting the opposite battle - to have the feeding tube and IV put in. I've never heard of a doctor charged with murder for making that call.