Posted on 03/19/2005 11:30:38 AM PST by Ravi
Just heard on Fox that U.S. Senate will convene today in emergency session regarding Terri Schiavo.
Well...he got that right, didn't he?!
If the Constitution is your standard, how do you ignore judges creating laws.
This state has sought to intervene and court after court has upheld one judge pronouncing a death sentence upon one person without just cause. That is not Constitutional.
Borderline PVS imo who might slightly improve in a different environment and fresh air and stimulation. It's probably too late for any kind of therapy to reverse the physical effects of neglect, but not impossible. How about if you asked the question thusly, "If you ever became in an incapacitated state where you were unable to do anything but lie in bed all day and had people take care of you (you can tell them all the icky, humiliating stuff that would entail), who would you want to intervene to end your life, how would you want them to do it, and would it bother you if they afterward went to jail for it?
Nobody would *want* to live like that. Nobody would *choose* to live like that unless they were crazy. The problem is do we or anybody have the right to terminate their lives, whether or not they left a living will? Legally we do if they have a written directive; morally I'm no longer sure about that any more.
The Judeo-Christian ethic is thou shalt not kill. No exceptions. Anyone who does not subscribe to that ethical system has a constitutional right to devise and follow their own ethical system, within the constraints of the legal system in the particular state they land in when their incapcitation commences or where they may be taken to reside thereafter.
Or perhaps a visitor to another patient might have some mercy?
Any first hand reading by a beginner law student can see that.
No law was made by this or any other judge on this particular case.
I agree that it happens a lot, but it did not happen here.
What happened is a public reaction caused by intent to incite.
I will not get into it further.I am on my way to bed.
But, it must be said that the way to address this is thought the legislature for future cases! Not by trying to subvert Justice, whether you agree with it or not.
What is happening is just plain wrong.
According to Pharmamom and her sources,
Diplomates and Fellows of the American Academy of Neurology state that a differential diagnosis for PVS must include an MRI and hours of neurologic testing--over the course of weeks. Of course, this is the opinion of a group of highly educated, expert DISINTERESTED neurologists, not the opinion of the husband's pet neurologists, one of whom is a member of a society which advocates euthanasia.
"I am glad they are reconvening, but considering that Terri is starving, one would think, they could have reconvened at 9 am instead."
I read this story on Yahoo and was thinking of the same thing. Why at 5 pm knowing full well that time is of the essence here?
Praying for our Terri.
Someone pointed out that they had already all left Washington, and if they were getting a morning flight back, that was the earliest they could convene.
MRI's are not normally used for brain pics. The CT scan is.
She has MRI pics on file, but they inserted a stimulator in California. It is still there.It prevents using a MRI machine, because the field id too strong.But It did not matter, it was not necessary as the have recent CTs and other tests.
PVS is more about ablility, and not what the brain looks like anyway.
Well, you seem to disagree with the American Acadamy of Neurology. I imagine when they find out, they will be quite distressed.
Can I pass along to them your medical credentials, for your new statue in their lobby?
"This will guarantee a Republican loss in 2008."
It's not about the party or abstract ideas - it's about human life.
PVS is frequently misdiagnosed.
THE PERMANENT VEGETATIVE STATE; ETHICAL CRUX, MEDICAL FICTION?
http://www.thalidomide.ca/gwolbring/pvsilm.htm
I don't care if she is totally brain dead. If she is able to breathe on her own and her religion now defines a feeding tube as not being extraordinary, she is still a living human being and deserves to be treated with dignity, her rights upheld, and not put down in a manner you wouldn't do to a dog even if she doesn't feel anything.
Brain death is a scientific concept, not a religious one. Stone cold dead bodies have been treated with more dignity than she has been.
Not necessary to repeat your comment. I see my comment as fitting, you choose authority over your own lying eyes. The law is available for you to look at. They must surely have a reference in the decisions which designated the authority to accept hearsay evidence despite the hearsay rule.
Andrew, just wanted to thank you for making the effort to research and post the actual text of the key relevant Florida statute in this matter. I don't think many posters here quite grasp the significance yet of what you're trying to point out, but I'd bet that Judge Greer is aware of the devastating trap he's in IF, and that's a big IF, the Congress sticks to their guns and pushes this all the way.
His only viable option now is to brazenly bluff his way through and count on Congress' well-deserved reputation for utter fecklessness allowing him to wriggle off the hook. Based on their past performance it's a pretty good bet, but perhaps not this time. I have no faith at all in Congress' integrity, but their survival instincts are finely honed, and I believe that some of them are beginning to suspect that the American people have reached a point where we might continue to tolerate a corrupt legislative branch, OR a corrupt judicial branch, but not BOTH. They will either have to rein-in an out-of-control judiciary, or we will put them out in the next election. Time will tell, and it will be interesting to watch.
Also, Terri has never had an MRI. If you'd care to try to prove she has, this would be a good time for it.
Lookie....if you won't take the time to read the damn law then don't post. It is all drivel!
Dr. Peter Morin...is a researcher specializing in degenerative brain diseases, and has both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Boston University.
In the course of my conversation with Dr. Morin, he made reference to the standard use of MRI and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to diagnose the extent of brain injuries. He seemed to assume that these had been done for Terri. I stopped him and told him that these tests have never been done for her; that Michael had refused them.
There was a moment of dead silence.
“That’s criminal,” he said, and then asked, in a tone of utter incredulity: “How can he continue as guardian? People are deliberating over this woman’s life and death and there’s been no MRI or PET?” He drew a reasonable conclusion: “These people [Michael Schiavo, George Felos, and Judge Greer] don’t want the information.”
Dr. Morin explained that he would feel obligated to obtain the information in these tests before making a diagnosis with life and death consequences. I told him that CT (Computer-Aided Tomography) scans had been done, and were partly the basis for the finding of PVS. The doctor retorted, “Spare no expense, eh?” I asked him to explain the comment; he said that a CT scan is a much less expensive test than an MRI, but it “only gives you a tenth of the information an MRI does.” He added, “A CT scan is useful only in pretty severe cases, such as trauma, and also during the few days after an anoxic (lack of oxygen) brain injury. It’s useful in an emergency-room setting. But if the question is ischemic injury [brain damage caused by lack of blood/oxygen to part of the brain] you want an MRI and PET. For subsequent evaluation of brain injury, the CT is pretty useless unless there has been a massive stroke.”
Other neurologists have concurred with Dr. Morin’s opinion. Dr. Thomas Zabiega, who trained at the University of Chicago, said, “Any neurologist who is objective would say ‘Yes’” to the question, “Should Terri be given an MRI?”
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