""There is a case to be made that keeping someone trapped in a virtually nonfunctional body, dependent upon others to provide the basic needs of survival, unable to move, for a prolonged period of time is indeed cruel and unusual punishment.""
That's where you make the mistake. Terri is not non functional and she is not a vegitable.
She hasn't gotten out of bed in 13 years. She can't eat or drink on her own. Her brain scans show no activity.
I said virtually nonfunctional. If the only thing you can do on your own is breathe, you are virtually nonfunctional. Would you choose to live in Terri's condition for 15 years?
I didn't say anything about a "vegitable". It has been said, however, that Terri has gone from a family vegetable to a state vegetable to a national vegetable - which just goes to show what an unfortunate circus this whole process has become.