[livius]

but whose right is it to choose life, or choose death for anyone?

If the person can't make this choice, then the law should always "err" on the side of life.

Michael Schiavo is a corrupt twit who stands to benefit by his wife's death. His attorney is a pro-death freak who is giving the entire "hospice" concept a bad name. Neither of these people should have anything to do with this decision - but they are the ones who control it.

I am hoping that what will come out of this is a system of local (state) laws weighted on the side of life. Did anybody hear the woman interviewed on NPR, of all places, who had been in a "vegetative state" for years but could hear them discussing how to kill her? Every time she tried to speak or wave her arms, they announced that she was having random nervous impulses and gave her drugs to quiet her down. And then one day she woke up - fortunately just before they were about to kill her.

Mistakes are always made, but they should be made on the side of life.

[dandelion]

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/extra/wokeup.html

"When I Woke Up" By Russ Cooper-Dowda

---SNIP---

In February of 1985, I woke up in a hospital bed in Boston, MA. I couldn't see very well and I couldn't move much -- but boy could I ever hear!
I heard a terrifying discussion then that I will never, ever forget.

Around the end of my bed were a "school" of doctors in their white coats, planning when to disconnect my ventilator and feeding tube. I immediately started screaming, "I'm here!!" No one but me heard me.
They did notice my sudden agitation. They heavily sedated me. For a time, everytime I woke up I would make as much noise and move as a much as I could to show them I was "in there."

And they would, in response, heavily sedate me...
I then started spelling the same word in the air, "Don't! Don't! Don't!...."

---SNIP---