First of all, I thought the political turn in her case was absurd, it wasn’t necessary, and after 15 years in a vegetative state, her husband and doctors reached the “right” decision… probably her own wishes, as well.
Secondly, I think it’s quite ironic that her BULLEMIA was the cause of her condition–she WAS intentionally starving herself, after all!
Thirdly, the persecution her husband received, including death threats was deplorable.
Lastly, the media -->CNN! must be really desparate for ratings, as images of T.Schiavo’s pitiful face was shown ADNAUSEUM. I hope her parents were simply naive in their protesting efforts and not seriously exploiting their own dying daughter’s condition and situation.
You hit on something interesting, ur8it, and a point that wasn’t fully addressed in the previous Schiavo threads or in news reports as the situation was unfolding. Terri Schiavo was obviously suffering from psychological difficulties at the time of her bulimia induced heart attack. It was during that time that she and her husband were engaged in fertility testing and trying to conceive. What woman in her right mind starves herself while preparing to conceive? Personally, I think there might have been substantial pscyhe issues going on there.
So, in other words, she may not have been of sound mind when she made her comments to her husband and others about not wanting heroic efforts to prolong her life?
Hoo boy, here we go. I’m surprised the ringmasters presiding over this circus didn’t bring that up when there was still time to “save” her.
This topic has been flogged into a vegetative state, but here I go anyway.
The Terri Schiavo case was not about the right to die - it was about euthanasia. The evidence provided by the husband that Terri would have wanted to die was presented seven years after she collapsed. Nobody in her family confirmed his claim - quite the opposite. Without a clear Living Will, there was enough doubt to err on the side of life. The law, however, did not allow for that. I do find it appalling that Michael, as a virtually estranged husband due to his having another family (common law wife and kids), was allowed to make the decision. He should have spared the nation and her family the trauma of the conflict and given up custody.
Instead, she was euthanized in a horrific way - and given morphine. If we as a society deem passive euthanasia to be acceptable, we should at least be honest and humane enough to adopt active euthanasia via letha injection.
[QUOTE=wonderwench]
I do find it appalling that Michael, as a virtually estranged husband due to his having another family (common law wife and kids), was allowed to make the decision. He should have spared the nation and her family the trauma of the conflict and given up custody.QUOTE]
You are wrong in so many ways. Michael Schiavo was in no way an “estranged husband”. He was present and accounted for during the entire 15 years that his wife Terri was hospitalized, throughout her years of rehabilitative therapy and at her side when she died. Michael’s relationship with another woman did not and does not legally constitute “common law” marriage in the state of Florida. Wherever did you get that idea?
So far as sparing the nation goes…you meant the Schindler’s right?
Yeah, Micheal sure did love her and live up to his marriage vows, to honor in sickness and health until death do us part. There were so many questions in this thing that went unanswered. What really happened to Terri, the paramedics called the police after they arrived, why? There was over one million dollars involved, what were the circumstances and who got the money after it was over.
What was the real reason he preferred her dead, instead of in the care of her parents. Question after question. The case was a disgrace on the Judicial system.
He was estranged, you don’t take another wife and have children with her, while your legal wife is in the condition Terri was. Don’t you think having children so quickly was strange, especially when Terri seemed to have trouble conceiving.
This was not a simple case of someone’s right to die, but I suppose we will never find out the truth.
Why don’t you know what happened to the 1 million dollars?
Why don’t you know why MS wouldn’t relinquish guardianship?
Why do you say MS “preferred her dead”?
Why do you think you are worthy to sit in judgement of a man whose wife was in a persistent vegative state for 15 years, who tried to carry out her wishes as expressed to multiple witnesses in the face of parents who stated that even if Terri herself ASKED them to remove her feeding tube they WOULD NOT do what she asked, who admitted that if their daughter were to contract diabetes they would amputate all of her limbs because her presence brought them “joy” and who encouraged MS to date…finding a mate to share his life with?
There is no million dollars. It has long been spent.
There are no unanswered questions, only people who don’t try to look for the answers where they are to be found.
The woman had no functional cerebral cortex, no consciousness. Her husband, who had zero to gain from removing life support (and yes, Florida defines the feeding tube as life support) and who refused $10million to relinquish custody, could no longer stand to see his wife in that condition, and elected to allow her body to die.
Her distraught parents, who (understandably) allowed themselves to be deluded into believing she was not permanently vegetative, made many bogus arguments which some people believed.
But every court who’s looked into this, and every qualified doctor who’s examined her at length, agrees that she had no thoughts, no awareness.
The physical processes of atrophy which led to her state are well understood – there’s no mystery there at all, and no surprises are expected from the autopsy results.
This case is not a disgrace on the judicial system, but rather a disgrace upon the legislature and the executive, who decry “activist judges” but then try to co-opt the judiciary when it suits their purposes.
This is certainly not about euthenasia. It’s about political gain being made from the plight of a family in distress, and about the attempt of government to intervene in what are already heart-breaking personal decisions.
Michael did not make the decision. He turned the decision over to the courts, who weighed testimony on both sides and determined that there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Terri would not want to be maintained in her state. This was based on the testimony of not just Michael, but of several other people.
Please, read through some of the approximately 10,000 posts on this matter in the past month at this very board. Many of your concerns have been addressed, many times over.
You might not believe this story, wonder, but not a few years ago I was rendered totally unconscious following which my body was actually cut open, parts of it removed, my skin sewed up and afterwards I was given morphine. And not only that, the ruthless bastard who cut open my body watched the entire horrific episode on a screen where views were generated by a camera inserted directly into my abdomen! I kid you not!
It would also be a good idea for wonderwench to look up “euthanized.” Schiavo was not, not, not, euthanized.
And regardless of how we sugar coat it many people with fatal illnesses that don’t kill quickly are weakened from malnutrition and their heart fails or they die of pneumonia, all of it under the influence of morphine or other narcotics.
Terri Schiavo was never given any morphine injections, or intravenous morphine. I know it makes your argument more dramatic to make this claim, but please stick to the facts:
Throughout this entire episode, you have tried your damnedest to remain completely ignorant of the facts. In thread after thread, your insane ramblings have been discussed, dissected, refuted, and debunked, yet you insist, like a salmon against the stream of intelligent discourse, to make false allegations, to misstate facts, and to revel in your own willing ignorance. If wonderwench is any indication, it just may be contagious.
I just thought the readers of this thread should take your post for what it is really worth… absolutley nothing.
The real facts are only hearsay, that is all we have. You have no more facts than I or anyone else. Terri is the one holding the facts, she knows what happened that day. She knows if she had a eating disorder or not. Terri knew if she wanted to die or not. Only Terri had the facts.
The Vatican issued a statement saying Terri’s starvation was an attack on God.
It is not known whether John Paul II issued it directly or not. But when he died three million people came to his funeral while over a billion watched on TV. They honored this man because he stood for the sanctity of life. He believed all life was sacred, and wasn’t afraid to point that out to the world leaders when they erred on human rights violations.
If you look back in history you will find that individuals with the greatest respect were like Pope John Paul II. Gandi, Jesus, Lincoln, King, to name a very few.
I don’t believe what I post will change any minds, but I do hope it will help in the understanding of my position, and the positions of many like me.
Now, as for attacking me, I know that all attacks are a call for help from those who are fearful.