A Subject Seldom Touched On
But isn’t this case just slightly different from other “pull the plug” scenarios? Here we have a woman who is self sustaining life functions-wise. They want to stop feeding her so she will slowly, (assumedly)painfully starve to death. I would think in a civilized nation you would never willingly starve another human being to death.
If pulling the plug meant quick and painless death it would be one thing. I had to watch them pull the plug on my dad. He went immediately. It was tough but we felt he wouldn’t recover. Slowly starving someone to death is inhumane and in all instances that I know of, illegal. Why is it even an option in this case?
Posted by Buckeye Kev
03/09/2005 at 01:36 PM
OCM, Yes, all the faacts are in. And as you say, it is a L-R thing. One side has medical “experts” saying one thing and the other has medical “experts” saying the opposite.
Kev, you ask, “Why is it even an option in this case?”
The asnwer is simple. You are dealing with liberal judges and other liberals. Remember, these are the same people that think partial birth abortions are OK, too! What’s a grown woman to them is nothing more than a 128th trimester birth?
Vilmar wrote: “...why is Michael so set on KILLING his wife?”
That is the whole thing that troubles me. Combine his attitude with the fact that her parents have agreed to incur all expenses, and he won’t divorce her; AND he has 2 kids already with some other woman?! WTF???
There is something very odd gong on here, and I would think that any judge with half a brain could see the same thing and at least err on the side of caution and humanity.
It seems that if a judge has the power to order her death by starvation, he should also have the power to force the husband to divorce her and allow her parents to assume responsibility for the woman’s care.
Society can be so fucked-up. I’m going for a walk.
Will the insurance company really pay this jerk? What is their take on the situation? If they have been paying to keep her alive then paying out a death benefit might be cheaper in the long run. If they aren’t why don’t they just say, “If you whack her you get zilch”. It is pretty obvious the husband isn’t motivated by love.
There is so much going on here it seems like somone should just be able to say “Here is the right thing to do let’s do it!”
Posted by Buckeye Kev
03/09/2005 at 04:34 PM
There is no missing info. The insurance paid off already and he’s spent it all and will get no more.
Hey, I live here. This is on the news 24/7. Hell, if ZWoof would log on he’d corroborate that.
Michael is just being obstinate now. There is no reason for him to continue to stay married to her.
Again, why not just let her go to the parents? Well, I smell a rat with this SOB and think he is setting himself up, dragging it out as long as he can in order to get enough material to write a book and sign a movie deal.
We have lots of people down here who get on their high horses of self-righteousness demanding she be “put out of her misery” and it’s “best for her” or that she “might finally get rest.”
They criticize her family never really understanding that all the family wants is to take care of Terry themselves.
When you ask these self-righteous pricks, “why can’t you just allow them to do so?” they give you no response.
I’m sorry, when there is an alternative, there should be NO RIGHT for one person to kill another like this. And there IS an alternative not dependant on the state or feds for help.
Or, then again, maybe he really is following his wife’s wishes, which, maybe, she had actually discussed with him during several conversations over the course of their marriage. Maybe it’s nothing more than that. If he already has the money and the honey, what do you suppose his motivation is? Prickishness? To put up with all this?
Posted by commander0
03/09/2005 at 07:18 PM
Hey everyone,
For one thing Terri had nothing in writing saying she wouldn’t want to be kept alive “under artificial means.” It’s just her whoring husband’s words, which I can’t believe that judge is even honoring. What I don’t understand is why the court wouldn’t err on the side of caution when there was no living will for Terri. Also, the conditions of her collapse are mysterious. Her scumbag husband says it was due to her eating disorder. But the parents believe he strangled her. I remember reading about Terri had many broken bones as well.To top it all off, the husband wants Terri cremated once she’s dead. Sounds like he’s got something to hide. He also says he plans to marry his mistress once Terri is dead. Sick sick sick!
The parents web site is http://www.terrisfight.org. I believe they accept PayPal.
Yeah, there is something rotten here and I too think it’s the husband. She reacts to stimuli and follows people with her eyes. Especially her mother.
Killing her by depriving her of food and water is seriously inhumane. Dehydration is what will kill her ... slowly.
She’s not being kept alive by any artificial means, she’s just being fed through a tube. I understand that she might be able to eat properly with therapy but the husband won’t allow it.
This is just wrong on so many levels.
FWIW I say let her family take care of her and see if they can help her. They seem to be the only ones willing to do so.
How many commenters here would want to live like Terri. Can’t walk,talk ,eat,drink,doesn’t have any brain function. Is that a life. The money is gone ever had extented medical coverage. I stayed in a hospital almost three years. That was over twenty years ago and the bill was over 1 million dollars. So many people fighting for Terri not one would switch places with her though. This fight has been going on for fifteen years. If something like this makes you sick have a living will so that your wishes will be understood and not used as a political BS machine. Diginity means a lot to me You people have stripped Terri of hers.
Posted by Alan S.
03/10/2005 at 02:17 AM
Bush Rocks....I believe you are incorrect in your assessment of the woman’s condition when you say she has no “brain function.” There has not been any mention of her being “brain dead.” Being in a coma does not mean one is necessarily “brain dead.”
Next you mention “extended medical coverage” which is not an issue either as the woman’s parents have agreed to take care of all expenses and their daughter. It’s a feeding tube we’re talking about, not a respirator and other life support apparatuses.
As for swapping places, that is not even an issue. Nobody would swap places with anybody who is suffering...unless they love them. FWIW, it has not been proven that she is suffering...but she would be if she were starved to death.
Lastly, to accuse those discussing an obviously controversial issue as having stripped this woman of her dignity, is quite unnecessary.
P.S. Not being from the US, I’m not clear about the insurance....Are there different policies?… one that would cover the accident and the subsequent treatment and a seperate policy that is payable to a beneficiary only upon death of the person insured?
OCM, how long has she been gone? In what her doctors say is an irreversible coma? Why do you find it so heinous that this guy moved on and started to live his own life? Was he fucking around before she became a vegetable? This guy has been called a scumbag here but the only reasons given are that he moved on and that he says he is fulfilling her wishes. How the fuck do you know that he isn’t? There’s a reason why spouses have precedence in these matters and that is that they have more intimate knowledge of their spouse than anyone else. Anyone’s religious objection to euthanasia is moot and meddlesome.
I ask again, if he stands to gain nothing monetarily, and that is what has been said here, what is his nefarious motivation other than that this is what she wanted. I hope my wife can stand up to you fuckers as strongly as he has because I sure wouldn’t want this to be my fate. A fucking planaria can respond to stimuli. Even worse, if I were conscious (not the same as responding to stimuli) and stuck in this prison I would absolutely want to be snuffed. And you all are hereby witnesses to my dieing will.I sense a stench of religious zealotry here and I don’t like it one damn bit.
Posted by commander0
03/10/2005 at 06:11 PM
<<I sense a stench of religious zealotry here and I don’t like it one damn bit.>>
Then go away.
Commander...Just two queries..First, if the man has moved on with his life why does he not divorce her?...Second, euthanasia is putting someone out of their misery humanely; starving someone to death is not humane.
Now, my point is if she breathes unassisted, has parents willing to care for her, what’s your point?
The woman is NOT comatose. She’s awake, aware of people who visit her and she tries to speak to them.
There is life in her and the husband refuses to allow any treatment to improve her condition.
Nobody really knows how she got into the condition she’s in, or what exactly brought it on. The husband wants her to die and have her cremated.
This just doesn’t pass my sniff test.
I’m presently watching Hannity and Colmes and there’s a guy, (Robert?) Herring, who is offering $1million to the husband if he’ll transfer to the parents the right to make the medical/life/death decisions for Terry Schiavo.
He’s serious, he has already transferred the money to a trust fund.
This gets curiouser and curiouser all the time. We’ll see what happens now.
Wanting this woman to be able to live and allow her family to try to rehabilitate her, despite her husband’s refusal to allow it, is not religious zealotry on my part.
Other than weddings, funerals and christenings, I haven’t attended a regular worship service in more than 35 years and am disgusted with the recent actions of the church in which I was brought up.
Peddle your harebrained theories elsewhere, Commander0. I’ve stated my opinion on the subject. You are entitled to yours.
Attempting to dismiss opinions with labels like ‘religious zealotry’ is a poor tactic. Argue on the merits and define your reasoning. You might convince someone.
03/09/2005 at 03:41 PM
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