1. Terri is not dying. (Living wills and advance directives, right-to-die issues, pertain to persons who are dying. ) The original cause of her condition and the present status of her condition are disputed, but she is not dying of her condition or any disease.
2. Terri left no written directive of any kind as to her wishes regarding medical treatment or withdrawal of it.
3. Michael sought and won an award specifically for her rehabilitation, saying nothing about her wishes at the time.
4. Soon after the funds were awarded, he claimed to remember her wishes, said she would not want to be kept alive in her present condition, and he has permitted no rehabilitation for Terri for the past ten years.
5. Michael has used a portion of Terri's medical award to hire personal security for himself, and a substantial amount of the award to pay attorneys to accomplish her death.
6. Terri has no guardian ad litem to safeguard her rights and interests against possible abuses by Michael, of his power as her legal guardian.
7. Terri's parents and siblings have publicly stated that Michael may keep all award money, that they want only to take care of Terri, out of love for her.
8. Michael has a fiancee and 2 children with this woman. While Terri lives, he remains married to her, legally obligated for her expenses, and the award money is almost completely spent. He has not denied that he holds life insurance on Terri. Divorce would not automatically prevent him from collecting on an insurance policy, but Terri's survival does.
I'm only recently heard about this case in the last few days.
While I believe both in a person's own right to "die" (end artificial life support), and right to kill themself, it appears that Terri can't make that decision. Since she left no known written directive, the decision ought to go to the parents.
I'm not even sure they should be able to decide because Terri 'isn't dying'. It's reasonable to assume that her wish would be to exhaust her resources in order to keep herself alive with the possibility of coming out of a coma. This assumes a self-centered individual. On the other hand, she might see more benefit to her offspring if she were to die and give them her resources, instead of gambling on her own life.
I need to mull it over more.