How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo

frontpagemag.com ^ | March 25, 2005 | Eric Cohen

[bmwcyle]

It fails us everyday.

[FBD]

Kate Adamson: who was in a PVS condition contradicts the lie, that it’s “painless to be starved to death"

Recovered “Vegetative State” Patient Kate Adamson Speaks Before Schiavo Rally

“One of the most painful experiences you can imagine." Unable to respond or to indicate awareness, Kate Adamson asserts, “I was just like Terri…but I was alive! I could hear every word. They were saying ‘shall we just not treat her?’...I suffered excruciating misery in silence.”

Struck down in 1995 at the age of thirty-three by a rare double brainstem stroke, Kate, then a mother of two young girls, was completely paralyzed; she was unable even to blink her eyes. Like Terri Schiavo, the medical staff treating her questioned the merit of continuing granting Kate the most basic human right of food and water. "I suffered excruciating misery in silence.”

Kate Adamson’s feeding tube was at one point removed for a full eight days before being reinserted due to the intervention of her husband (also a competent lawyer).

Picture of Kate Adamson: totally paralyzed by a severe double brainstem stroke on June 29, 1995.


This is Kate today (thanks to a loving husband who did not give up on her)

Kate Adamson tells her story HERE: 10 years later with a loving husband's support and years of rehabilitation.

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[FormerNavyBrat]

bump

[Tribune7]

Great post.

[grassboots.org]

Here is a new number to call at the Governor Bush Office to encourage him to "err on the side of life":

1-850-487-1111

Be nice and thank him for what he has done so far. I believe that some of what was said about the Florida Republican senators before they had even voted (by RT) may have forced them into the wrong vote.

[agrace]

In November 1992, he testified at a malpractice hearing that he would care for Terri for the rest of her life, that he "wouldn't trade her for the world," that he was going to nursing school to become a better caregiver. He explicitly reaffirmed his marriage vow, "through sickness, in health."

But the lonely husband eventually began seeing other women.

The lonely husband was already seeing other women. At the time he testified in the malpractice suit, he had been involved with a woman named Cindy Shook for almost a year.

[Spunky]

From Article:"Terri Schiavo was still a human being, a member of the Schindler family and the human family. As such, she was still worthy of protection and care, even if some of those closest to her wished to deny it."

That really sums it up.

Thanks so much for posting the article.....Spunky

[kjenerette]

How the Courts Failed Terri Schiavo The court, in 1997 when Michael announced he was 'engaged' should have immediately conducted a guardianship hearing and transfered Terri to State guardianship. Because of this failure, we are in the present situation.

Questions that need to be immediately considered:

(1) Why did Michael choose to 'ignore' her wishes for nearly 7 years until 1997 when he announced he was'engaged' to Jodi Centonze and 'suddenly' remembered the conversation about life support with Terri from years before?

Respondent answer would most likely rationalize that it took that long before Michael Schiavo realized there was 'no hope for recovery...'

(2) However, the 1992 malpractice suit for $20 million was based on the premise/conclusion that Terri would NOT recover and she would require constant medical care for the remainder of her life estimated by Michael Shiavo and his laywers to be 51 years(which is the normal life expectancey)...Where were her WISHES at that time?

(3) The court, in 1997 when Michael announced he was 'engaged' should have immediately conducted a guardianship hearing and transfered Terri to State guardianship, at a minimum because of the obvious conflict of interest on the part of Michael Shiavo.

The court system failed to act at that point, and that is a major factor on why we are at the point we are today.

(4) Guardianship, by law and practice, is determined to be given to that person who is most heavily 'biased' in favor of the disabled person. Under most conditions this would be the spouse. However, most prudent courts, if during the guardianship period, the appointed guardian by circumstances or accident tilts the 'bias' away from the interest of the person so guarded, would conduct an immediate review, and at a minimum, transfer guardianship to the appropriate State agency.

An additional thought, as I presented it to my class at the university yesterday and I posed the question to the students:

If Terri Schiavo's medical condition, feeding tube et al, was exactly the same as it is, age 25, etc. with the single exception that she was not 'mentally' disabled but had all other functions; and she expressed a desire to have the feeding tube removed and wanted to die, what would we do?

Of course the answer is clear, she would not be allowed to make that 'choice' and would be sent for counselling, etc.

Van & Katherine Jenerette - www.jenerette.com

[sageb1]

Thanks, Joe. You've posted some good reads today (and a special thanks for keeping us up to date on the hate-filled rhetoric coming from the socialists).

[lifelongsoldier]

This is inspiring and shows the result of having a loving, caring spouse. Too bad Terri doesn't have a spouse who loves her and cares for her.

[matymac]

The new Slogan of Democrats should be...
"Give us your unborn, your feeble and disabled...so we can kill them!"

[trisham]

Good article. Thanks.

[FBD]

"The new Slogan of Democrats should be...
"Give us your unborn, your feeble and disabled...so we can kill them!"

Ha!...But this dosen't seem to be a typical left/right issue. As you know, there are some on the right, who support euthanasia, and some on the left who oppose it as well. I'm sure you've seen them on these threads.

Have you seen this yet?
"mors vincet omnia"
"Death conquers all"
( Which is true for the pro-euthanasia crowd.)

[FBD]

check this site out:
http://www.all.org/issues/eol07.htm

[loveliberty2]

Thank you! There are competing world views playing themselves out in this human drama.

I am reminded of words of wisdom from an ancient text.

From various translations, it is the following:

"There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." WEB

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; But the end thereof are the ways of death." ASV

"There is a way which seems straight before a man, but its end is the ways of death." BBE

"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death." DBY

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." KJV

"There is a way which seemeth right to a man, but the end of it are the ways of death." WBS

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." JPS

"There is a way -- right before a man, And its latter end 'are' ways of death." YLT

(Proverbs 14:12)

[lifelongsoldier]

None of us knows what is going on inside the head of comatose or minimally conscious patients. They may appear to be near death, and then revive. They may show agitation, then relax and sleep then wake up lucid. I would never stop feeding and hydrating a patient who was able to breathe on his own. If I were told that my spouse was brain damaged beyond recovery, and if she was deteriorating before my eyes, I would honor her desire for me to take the time I need to mourn her then let her go. She would do the same for me. We have discussed this more than once, we are both nurses, and we have had to make this decision with regard to parents. We still miss them, but we believe they have gone on before us to a better place.

[FBD]

bump to your post^

[Jorge]

Kate Adamson: who was in a PVS condition contradicts the lie, that it’s “painless to be starved to death"

Her story seems to indicate she never really was in a PVS condition, but was misdiagnosed.

[FBD]

maybe so, but this PVS condition seems to have a fairly broad interpretation, from what I've been reading, and hearing.

Of course doctors are not infallible, and the human body has amazing self-healing powers...and then there are just plain miracles.

regards.