Depends on what you mean by "helpless."
On one extreme, there is the paraplegic or quadraplegic person whose injuries are solely physical. If I find myself near someone advocating that such people be killed, I'd be liable to pop them one in the nose.
On the other extreme is the person who is completely braindead and cannot continue to even breathe on their own. In that case, pulling the plug is the right thing to do.
TS was very, very close to the second case. Maybe she wasn't completely brain dead in that she retained some autonomic brain functions. However, for all intents and purposes, TS died 15 years ago. What happened this last week was simply her physical shell catching up to that fact.
"Depends on what you mean by "helpless." "
Here we go, the meaning of "is" defense.
she was not near brain dead! Have you ever seen brain dead? They need complete life support. Terri had a small feeding tube
Please watch the following very short video and then tell me if you still think TS was "near brain dead."
http://web.tampabay.rr.com/ccb/videos/Terri_Big_Eyes.rm
Thank you.