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I think the question has to be asked...why aren't there more people there?

Many FReepers won't like the answer. 'Cause when I see the videos of Terri I have two reactions. First, I pray for Terri. Second, I pray that if I was ever in that condition, my wife would do everything she could to pull the plug. I can't speak for Terri, but as for me, I would want to go and be with my God rather than living a hell on earth.

I beleive most Americans, contrary to the real and strong feelings here, feel the same way.

There is a 1 p.m. vigil today at the Woodside Hospice, and another at 3 p.m. in front of the White House ... information has been posted in the Florida and D.C. Chapters and in the Open Forum ~ if unable to attend, prayer is asked, especially during those hours ...

I think the question has to be asked...why aren't there more people there? Many FReepers won't like the answer.

It's because the media hasn't been all over the story so most of the public is unaware of it. I've normally have FNC on all day and haven't heard a word about Terri. I've become frustrated and have been switching to CNN and other stations but again have seen no reports.

It's part of a selfish attitude. People don't want to suffer even the most minor of inconviences. The mere sight of Terri causes us pain, our initial reaction is to remove that pain. Thus, the reaction "If I were in that situation, I'd want someone to pull the plug." It's wishing she would go away so we don't have to see her and be pained anymore.

That underlying compassion that makes one look in the first place is the souls' knowledge of right from wrong.

I'm sure many of us here have encountered people the last few days whose initial reaction was to wish her death. Some looked long enough to see what is really happening. Sadly, others haven't opened their eyes. Worse still, some know what is happening and wish for it.

Despite the lack of care, despite a husband (in legal standing only) who has worked tirelessly to have her put to death, despite all odds against her, she has lived. She is not on life-support. But, if she is considered to be, then we all are, because it's nothing but food and water.

Evil forces want us to think that because of her condition, that it would be better for her to expire. It paves the road for the abuse of those who need protection the most. It reduces one to that of less-than-human. She is no less human than you or I, and deserves no less treatment. If we cannot starve another person to death without dire consequences from our laws here on earth, how can the same state that would prosecute us, do this to another human being?

It cannot. That is why the courts have had to overlook the rights of humans and determine that Terri's mental condition is grounds for her to be considered property of Michael Schiavo.

The state is wrong. It is breaking its own laws.

======Second, I pray that if I was ever in that condition, my wife would do everything she could to pull the plug. I can't speak for Terri, but as for me, I would want to go and be with my God rather than living a hell on earth.

I think that we as a whole have been so unduly influenced by the "freedom" of behavioral psychology to only see what can be directly observed that we forget there is more to life than meets the eye.

The only thing we know for certain is that we can choose to either provide comfort or inflict pain on a person whose mind we have no hope of reading.

It's always been my thought that at the heart of the modern fight for abortion is the tacit recognition that pro-aborts would Themselves rather be dead than infirm, deformed or unwanted. In this respect, they have much in common with those who cannot bring themselves to support Terri 100% due to lingering doubts they'd be immune to suicide or reject the Good Death were they in her position.

Very self-centered when you think about it.

Years ago, long before my thoughts were anything like consistent, I promised to help certain of my friends off themselves when their suffering grew too great. We had the ability. If that's what they wished, I'd be happy to oblige them anyway I could.

But not one of those men died at their own hands. I ended up witnessing some horrific deaths ... throats constricted with thrush such they couldn't eat, open sores, nausea, inability to sleep prone, legs swollen like Sequoia trees and panic so palpable some days it was more than an hour in the room before I had them speaking calmly of other things.

I learned a lot in those years. Granted, healthcare is not a Business for me and it's not my job to nurse folks unto their deaths so I'm not as jaded or impatient or Practical as others.

Many FReepers won't like the answer. 'Cause when I see the videos of Terri I have two reactions. First, I pray for Terri. Second, I pray that if I was ever in that condition, my wife would do everything she could to pull the plug. I can't speak for Terri, but as for me, I would want to go and be with my God rather than living a hell on earth.

Terri's HINO has actively prevented her from receiving any sort of therapy. The fact is that there's no way we can know, or will ever be able to know, what Terri's true condition was or to what extent she might have improved with therapy.

There are people alive today who were in apparently-worse shape than Terri, but who have recovered enough to lead somewhat normal lives. One of my relatives was in a head-on collision with a jack-knifed semi and was comatose for well over a month, but she now lives at home with her husband.

Had therapy been tried and proven unsuccessful, then your point of view might not be unreasonable. But to suggest that someone should be killed before making any effort at rehabilitation after an accidental incident(*) is just plain wrong.

(*) As distinct from an incident caused by an persistent underlying medical condition. If someone suffers cardiac arrest as a result of a rapidly spreading cancer, restarting their heart won't do much good because the underlying cause for its stopping will still be present. In the case of someone whose heart stops as a result of massive trauma, restarting the heart may allow it to function for many more years if the trauma is fixed.