[strela]

Why are you upset?

I'm upset because Schiavo apparently didn't have a Living Will or other instructions about what to do in a case like this. To me, being chained to a hospital bed at the edge of life having to be fed through a tube for 13 years would be hell, and is a fate I would not wish upon my worst enemy. That's the real tragedy - everybody should have detailed instructions on file somewhere about what they want done in a case like this.

[MarMema]

So they can be dehydrated to death more quickly?

[TigersEye]

Right. Every 26 yr old ought to have their wills made out. Maybe we could have that done through a school program and get everyone signed up in kindergarten when they get their shots their SS card and their national ID.

[MarMema]

everybody should have detailed instructions on file somewhere about what they want done in a case like this.

In most cases they won't matter all that much....but do you wish this were true so people could be dehydrated more quickly, instead of having to wait all the years of court battles?

[huck von finn]

I'm upset because Schiavo apparently didn't have a Living Will or other instructions about what to do in a case like this.

That was my reaction too, for what it's worth. My mother left us a few years ago. She had a living will, and while it didn't make the process pleasant, she was able to die in comfort and dignity.

[sfRummygirl]

yeah, that of course would have been ideal. But it didn't happen, as most 26 year olds are, so now we have to deal with what we can do NOW. I can't get hung up on what she should have done. Hell, she shouldn't have married the guy in the first place. But that doesn't mean that her life cannot effect me, or that we can't do what we can now as members of the human family.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

"To me, being chained to a hospital bed at the edge of life having to be fed through a tube for 13 years would be hell, and is a fate I would not wish upon my worst enemy"

If she'd had the rehab she was supposed to get, she wouldn't be chained to a bed and more than likely would not need the feeding tube either.