Posted on 06/16/2005 6:53:51 AM PDT by rhema
. . .People of goodwill may disagree about Terri Schiavo's case. Yet as our society strays from its traditional belief in the essential dignity of every human life, we all must grapple with the implications of the notion that some lives are "not worth living."
Today, assisted suicide is lawful in Oregon. In the Netherlands, according to the New York Times, prosecutors no longer pursue cases against doctors who kill severely impaired babies after birth. The temptation to deal with the defective and incompetent by eliminating them is likely to grow as our society ages. Today, approximately 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease. In coming decades, projections suggest that about 40 percent of us will spend roughly 10 years in an infirm, demented condition. The way we deal with this situation will say much about us as a society.
Currently, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is staging an exhibit . . . called "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race." It examines the idea of "lebensunwertes Leben" -- lives not worthy of life --which the Nazis used to justify their elimination of thousands deemed unfit to live: the retarded, the defective and the seriously ill.
Some German intellectuals championed this idea well before the Nazi era began. A 1920 book, for example, decried "the meticulous care shown to existences which are not just absolutely worthless" -- the disabled and deformed -- "but even of negative value." It called for applying the "healing remedy" of premature death, in order to "eliminat[e] those who were born unfit for life or who later became so."
Today, we must ensure that we ourselves are not tempted to start down this slippery slope --moved by free choice rather than totalitarian edict, and seduced by a shallow notion of "death with dignity."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
If the autopsy showed evidence of abuse then we should try MS for abuse. But the abuse angle was a figment of the imagination of those that would have the government separate what God joined together.
We didn't separate a husband and wife. That was Michael's choice. If he wanted to stay with her, why didn't he? Why did he leave her for those other women? If he didn't want to separate what God joined together, why did he kill her? No, you can't blame us for that.
Suppose my wife goes into a PVS and after a few years of treatment she doesn't improve. She has already told me doesn't want to be in Terri's state. So I pull the feeding tube and mourn for her. Five years later I meet another woman and we start a new life together.
Oh wait, I can't because "conservatives" have said I can't pull the plug without her family's approval.
The foundation was laid decades ago and the building is awaiting a roof. Good luck to those who choose to retire in this country. My husband and I are choosing otherwise.
Well said, Yellowdoghunter. Always err on the side of life is there is any doubt. We are moving toward a time when, due to immigration, we are going to have a crowded country with increasingly heavy demands on medical facilities. The easy way out will be to dispose of the "useless" elderly and handicapped. It will be a test for us, just as Terry Schiavo was a test - one that was failed.
That's a very interesting fantasy you've described, but it has nothing to do with what happened to Terri. Maybe you should take the time to read up on her situation.
If you had the option to request a lethal injection, would you choose that course instead for her?
No abuse, no "conservative" believes that Terri told him she wouldn't want to be kept alive in a PVS, but they do believe Terri's friends who say she was getting a divorce even though Terri never talked to a lawyer or filed any paperwork, and even though MS was on good terms with Terri's family for the first several years of the PVS. No "conservative" in this thread at least accepts a marriage contract as being sufficient for a husband to make that decision. It must be augmented with a living will.
I have no idea what I would do if I were in that situation. What I do know is that I wouldn't want a bunch of judges and "conservatives" to make that decision for me (or for my wife, if I were the one in a PVS). This is a private matter between me and my wife.
I don't see a stipulation in the vows anywhere where it says it is ok that he shacks up with another woman and has kids with her just because his wife is ill. In fact, my wedding vows said through sickness and health. Adultery is the one sin that is acceptable grounds for divorce. MS broke his vows and therefore forfeited his rights.
You sure do babble on in many directions at once. The fact of the matter is, a marriage license is not a bill of sale. You don't get to decide that your wife must die, just because you say so.
I have other things to do right now, so take your time, and try to formulate a rational response.
Suppose my wife goes into a PVS and after a few years of treatment she doesn't improve. She has already told me doesn't want to be in Terri's state. So I pull the feeding tube and mourn for her. Five years later I meet another woman and we start a new life together.
Oh wait, I can't because "conservatives" have said I can't pull the plug without her family's approval.
So you don't feel that starving and dehydrating a person to death is abuse. I'm glad I'm not your wife, child or dog.
Suppose someone makes the wish that they not be kept on a feeding tube in a PVS. Is that a choice you will allow people to make for themselves?
Ummm...in your scenario she died before you met someone else. That has nothing to do with what I just said. What I said was that he had already broken his vows by shacking up with someone else and having children with that woman BEFORE TERRI DIED, therefore he forfeits any rights to make decisions based on the vows he took with Terri. If he had not broken the vows to Terri by committing adultery in the first place, we probably wouldn't even be having this discussion.
Is suicide a decision you think people should be able to make for themselves?
Exactly. But what if I wasn't allowed to honor my wife's wish and have the feeding tube removed? Suppose her family objected and was able to keep her alive?
Answer my question with an answer, not another question. Should people be permitted to make living wills?
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