Feeding tube removed from comatose woman at center of long-running legal battle

Associated Press ^ | 10-15-03

[sweetliberty]

It is just like when abortion was first legalized. It was restricted to the first trimester (not that it's okay then either). But now these godless barbarians treat the slaughter of fully formed, full-term infants as something which is subject to their "right to choose" murder, as if killing babies is as normal as eating and breathing.

[justshutupandtakeit]

I know nothing about the husband or care really but merely wonder about the motivation of people ready to keep her "alive" at all costs. How many millions of the taxpayers' funds have been spent on her already? How many more would be spent to prolong this situation until she is dead beyond all pretence?

Just how alive is she? My understanding is hardly at all.

[iowamomforfreedom]

No, she is not. If you'd like to see video, got to http://www.terrisfight.org.

[Calpernia]

Ok, in a nutshell, Terri Schiavo's tube is removed. Court orders are in to keep all visitors out and sedation is order. If you are familiar with this case GREAT! If not, Terri's site is here: http://www.terrisfight.org and their are bump lists on this here at FR.

PLEASE copy and paste post 21 to email format and SEND. Email addresses are all there too. This whole case just isn't right.

Ping your lists, and forward to your email addresses, THANK YOU.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

It's a sad day when we don't even give someone a shot at life. It would the ultimate in justice if Terri walked out of that room and made some heads roll.

[EternalVigilance]

Why don't you just shut up for once in your life?

[PleaseNoMore]

Frankly I am tired of reading your "sympathetic" crap. I DO have a loved one in the condition that Terri is in. He was injured in a motorcycle wreck 18 years ago when he was 19. He was on a feeding tube. The dr's swore that he would aspirate if we tried feeding him. His mom decided to begin with a little soup one day as she was eating lunch in his room. He was looking longingly at it. She began with a drop. He began to be able to take more and more. His tube was removed and he now feeds himself with his good side. He hasn't spoken in 18 years. Last month he began saying "mama" again. For all intents and purposes, Chuck was not supposed to live this long. His mother had to fight his father to get him rehab therapy. At one point she lost custody of him. She fought and is still fighting to bring Chuck back. Guess what? He has defied odds and he has defied the medical definitions that were applied to him. He tells us so when we ask him why is he doing something that he wasn't supposed to be able to do by his one finger salute.

[texasbluebell]

Is there a personality in there? By some reports, she does respond to outside conversations, and seems to make some voluntary movement in response to the acts of others. Does she understand what is going on around her?

I read somewhere, perhaps in the WND article, that she definitely is responsive. When her father once put the phone to her ear to listen to whoever it was on the phone, the person on the other end of the line told Terri that she was going to die because of this, she sat bolt upright in her chair.

She knows what's going on. This is madness.

[Bluebird Singing]

According to Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary:

Vegetative state, a physical condition in which a previously comatose patient appears to be awake but is unable to communicate OR RESPOND TO STIMULI. The eyes may be open but because of senile brain disease, cerebral arteriosclerosis, or injury to the cerebral cortex the patient remains immobile and must be fed and toileted.

Now: Go watch the video clips, and watch her respond with her eyes wide open, making eye contact. Decide whether definition of vegetative state is accurate for Terri.

[T'wit]

So like the liberals to call it a "procedure."

[formercalifornian]

I was just there viewing videos. That's what convinced me. Thanks.

[EggsAckley]

Taxpayer money has not been used.

[sweetliberty]

"He should have been given a divorce"

He could have gotten a divorce, but then he would doubtless lose access to the settlement money. I mean, he'll be needing that money to support the 2 bastards illegitimate children he brought into the world.

It is a grievous time that we are living in.

[erikm88]

I suppose we ought to just kill all babies in NICU's around the country, who are "barely alive" as well.

They don't have higher order cognitive ability either. This case is no different, than that of a high-risk pregnancy, in which the life of an infant is at stake. And we certainly spend "millions of taxpayer dollars" on that.

--erik

[Ohioan from Florida]

I just found this thread, so forgive me if anyone has already responded to you.

It seems to me that by sedating her they are tacitly acknowledging that she may well suffer, right? If this is supposed to be peaceful, painless and without suffering, why is there a need for sedation?

Am I missing something? If she's "vegetative" and "unable to respond to stimuli", then why do they need to sedate her? Wouldn't sedation only make sense if she was aware and able to respond to the stimulus of starvation, i.e., severe cramping, stomach pain, muscle contractions and so on?

You are quite right! However, the judge and everyone else thinks the rest of us are brain-dead and don't understand their double-speak. Terri is aware, and they ALL know it!

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Not neccesarily a reply to your post, but liberal caller so Hannity show is standing up for Terri.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Thanks for your suggestion, ummm no I won't.

Feel free to offer your well-considered advice to another.

[TexasCajun]

thanks for the information, I do not have all the facts and have not been following as closely as most, I'll admit.

I've learned that she is not comatose, but severly brain-damaged. ..to the point of zero brain activity? I'm not sure what the overall difference is in being in a coma and being brain dead?

It's just sad all the way around.

[yonif]

1. Will she be suffering as she has no feeding tube?

2. Can someone provide me a link which gives a summary of this topic/issue/story relating to this woman?

[justshutupandtakeit]

Thanks for the info.