I will die when God wishes or I wish. Obi-Wan is not either.

Yoda

Originally Posted by djplong

Ok, so how did we go from "consultation on end-of-life options" to "paying doctors to convinve you that (it) would be great for you to die"?

Just trying to shake you up a bit so that you see what's in front of you. That is exactly what this is about. You can discuss with me what treatment options I have and let me decide if I want them or not, or I can get another professional's opinion, OR you can discuss "end of life options" with me, in which case you discussing my DEATH OPTION. It's kind of self explanatory DJ.

Richie, BK, or Yoda (or anyone else who wishes to chip in for a par)-

Do you personally believe that Mary Jo Schiavo's husband had the right to terminate his wife's life since she had been in a vegetative coma for about 20 years and no chance of returning to "life"?

Part 2 of the question is: Do you think that is an area that Congress was way out of their boundaries in taking up the issue?

Part 3 - Do you believe the method used for terminating her existence (removal of the feeding tube) was better or worse than a doctor being able to legally inject a high dosage of morphine?

Thanks for your answers.

Originally Posted by Tbugs

Richie, BK, or Yoda (or anyone else who wishes to chip in for a par)-

Do you personally believe that Mary Jo Schiavo's husband had the right to terminate his wife's life since she had been in a vegetative coma for about 20 years and no chance of returning to "life"?

Part 2 of the question is: Do you think that is an area that Congress was way out of their boundaries in taking up the issue?

Part 3 - Do you believe the method used for terminating her existence (removal of the feeding tube) was better or worse than a doctor being able to legally inject a high dosage of morphine?


Thanks for your answers.

1. No, I do not and did not. Her husband had nothing but his changing story of his wife's wishes and her parents would have cared for her. She did not need extraordinary measures to maintain life, but only needed basic human sustenance. All she couldn't do to maintain her life is feed herself. If you argue that point, you condemn all paraplegics.

People have come out of lengthy comas, and there was no definitive evidence that Ms. Shiavo was not brain aware, only conjecture.

2. The Constitution guaranties us LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Congress has no jurisdiction to rule for the termination of life of an innocent. This was criminal overreach and a case of government authorization of the murder of a handicapped citizen, pure and simple.

3. I you have the conviction that you have the right to murder a person who cannot speak for themselves and is just, simply alive and not bound to a mechanical device to keep them alive, than you should be brave enough to end that life as humanely as possible. I would have preferred the outright execution of this helpless woman than the cowardly deprivation of her sustenance, which is the cruelest way to kill someone I can think of.

Terry Shiavo was murdered. She was killed. She was exterminated. She was NOT just "Allowed to die"

That's my opinion. I know ad infinitum the arguments of those who disagree with me and expect I'll see them here from those who still try to make peace with their view. But I, and many others who believe in absolute sanctity of life will never change our view on this.

Richie:

1) If memory serves, the husband's story didn't change. What DID change was, after 8years of trying everything under the sun from being wheeled through parks (in hopes of sparking some kind of recovery) to highly experimental treatments, Michael basically came to the belief that he'd tried everything. The parents said that because Terry was a practicing Roman Catholic, she would not approve of violating the Church's teachings on euthanasia. The parent's, however, did NOT know everything that had gone on in Terry's life, such as her bulimia (Michael won a malpractice case against the doctor treating Terry for infertility because the doctor failed to properly diagnose the bulimia as the cause of the infertility).

2) Umm. That's the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

3) In a manner of speaking, I agree with you. It's well known to my family what my wishes are should I be in a Persistent Vegetative State. I would hope that someone would be merciful enough to me to do something like a morpheine overdose.

The "sanctity of life" argument, though, puzzles me at times. This woman was found DEAD. She was brought back to life at the hospital after suffering severe brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. From a purely Christian standpoint, it can be argued that she was wrenched out of paradise (heaven) to be forced to undergo 10 years of being trapped in a body that could not communicate.

I mean, for crying out loud, we treat ANIMALS more humanely than humans in circumstances like that.

Michael did everything he could to bring Terry back. It wasn't until he had exhausted every practical possibility that he started to face what many would have said was the obvious or inevitable.

I don't mean this as a slam, but sometimes people just can't let go. Right, wrong or indifferent, it's a VERY emotional thing. I mean, for the parents, this was their daughter that they were trying to hold on to.

No, Terry was not murdered. That's the illegal or unlawful taking of a life. This thing wound it's way through the courts for a LONG time. It was 8 years before THAT when Terry really died. Remember, Terry was revived and intubated immediately. She never once regained consciousness. All the doctors involved in her treatment agreed on her state - but you had politicians who had the gall to look at edited videotape and make long-distance diagnosis that did nothing mroe than infmae an already volatile situation.

Originally Posted by RichieLion

1. 3. I you have the conviction that you have the right to murder a person who cannot speak for themselves and is just, simply alive and not bound to a mechanical device to keep them alive, than you should be brave enough to end that life as humanely as possible. I would have preferred the outright execution of this helpless woman than the cowardly deprivation of her sustenance, which is the cruelest way to kill someone I can think of.

Terry Shiavo was murdered. She was killed. She was exterminated. She was NOT just "Allowed to die"

That's my opinion. I know ad infinitum the arguments of those who disagree with me and expect I'll see them here from those who still try to make peace with their view. But I, and many others who believe in absolute sanctity of life will never change our view on this.

36 years ago my mom fell into a coma. She was 53 years old, the same as me now. Long story short: She was a diabetic, having a stroke, my dad rushed her to the ER, it was "diagnosed" as bursitis, she was given a pain shot and with all the complications, this shot put her in a coma.

She laid in that hospital bed for 2 months, on a heart machine with a tracheotomy. She could only stare at the ceiling and never responded to our voices or touch. It was heart-wrenching and heart-breaking for all of us.
The only thing keeping her alive was that trach that was doing her breathing for her.

My twin brother and I were 17 years old. We were still in school as well as working. My dad worked his butt off as a bread delivery man and had one day off a week. Yet, we were there every day for 2 months straight.

My father left the decision up to me whether or not to remove her breathing tube, since I was the only girl and the housework and cooking would fall to me if my mom died. It already had anyway while she was there.

It was the HARDEST decision I have ever had to make in my whole life.

When I finally decided that it would be best all around to let her go, they removed the trach tube. My mom's heart was very strong and she lingered for a couple of days. I was by her side the whole time. I would stroke her forehead and talk to her about everything....I laughed, I cried, I just wanted her to wake up. The moment I will never forget is when she actually opened her eyes and looked me straight in mine. I was so excited that I ran to get the nurses to tell them that she was waking up. They came running in the room, checked her machines and informed me that it was just a reaction. She died 3 hours later. My mom literally suffocated to death.

I have lived with that for my whole life. Was my mom looking at me, asking me why I pulled the plug? Or was she looking at me, thanking me, for pulling that plug? I will never know...for years I believed that I truly killed my mom. As I have grown older, I have become more content with the situation, praying that I made the right decision and coming to believe that I had. I know that I would never want to go on like that and have informed my family of my wishes.

Your statement:
I would have preferred the outright execution of this helpless woman than the cowardly deprivation of her sustenance, which is the cruelest way to kill someone I can think of.

Terry Shiavo was murdered. She was killed. She was exterminated. She was NOT just "Allowed to die"

You have brought back a flood of memories, unknowingly. I know it was not meant in a cruel or mean way, that it is your opinion. And normally, I respect your opinions. However, this is one opinion that I have to disagree with...for my own sanity.

What would you have done at 17 years old?

If the Republicans succeed in repealing obamacare, will the earmarks that were added onto the bill also be repealed?

Originally Posted by ceejay

You have brought back a flood of memories, unknowingly. I know it was not meant in a cruel or mean way, that it is your opinion. And normally, I respect your opinions. However, this is one opinion that I have to disagree with...for my own sanity.

What would you have done at 17 years old?

I'm sorry for your loss, but Terry Shiavo was a different situation. When you and your family opted to pull the breathing tube, your mother, as you said, could not survive without the machine to do her breathing.

Ms. Shiavo needed no such machine to live. All she needed to live was a little food and a little water. She was denied these basic human needs.

For Ms. Shiavo to die, she had to be killed. She was not "allowed" to die, There is a big difference; no matter how many words some posters have written to justify it.

Again, I apologize for opening an old wound, and I wish you all the best.