[grassboots.org]

there is also little medical debate that without her cerebral cortex, terri shiavo is "gone" in the sense of anything There is lots of medical debate. Last night the former director of the NIH said that the definition of PVS has changed since her last CATscan. She said that there is a lot of doubt on this issue. Have you seen the video of Terri opening her eyes WIDE on command? That is no reflex - unless your response to these posts are reflexes. I agree that this is a secondary issue - she should not be starved whether or not she is responding to others. Just because you don't respond doesn't mean that you aren't a thinking person.

[mblaise]

having sat with a dying friend (her husband didn't have a feeding tube inserted) for a month, i saw motions that looked like she was responding to something - when there was no one or nothing there to respond to. very sad. we wanted to believe there was someone still there, but the cancer had taken her brain.. so i'm not so impressed with the schiavo tapes. and there isn't any debate over where the "higher functions" of the brain reside... if one doesn't have a cerebral cortex, one doesn't have consciousness.

my point was that making the argument that one has to have those functions, or have brain waves to deserve life, then that leaves young embryos vulnerable.

[mblaise]

having sat with a dying friend (her husband didn't have a feeding tube inserted) for a month, i saw motions that looked like she was responding to something - when there was no one or nothing there to respond to. very sad. we wanted to believe there was someone still there, but the cancer had taken her brain.. so i'm not so impressed with the schiavo tapes. and there isn't any debate over where the "higher functions" of the brain reside... if one doesn't have a cerebral cortex, one doesn't have consciousness.

my point was that making the argument that one has to have those functions, or have brain waves to deserve life, then that leaves young embryos vulnerable.