Dehydration Nation

The Human Life Foundation, Inc ^ | Fall 2003 | Wesley J. Smith

[verity]

How dare you upset freepertwo?

[Freepertwo]

How dare he advocate the murder of an innocent human being. What is missing in the moral fiber of those of you who advocate this kind of atrocity? Do you realize that your taunts to those of us who care about this woman and her life are actually compliments? The more you talk, the more you reveal who and what you are. Keep talking.

[verity]

"Do you realize that your taunts to those of us who care about this woman and her life are actually compliments?"

You are welcome.

[Joe Republc]

I know several people who are generally pro-life, but get angry and adament about the need to allow the removal of the feeding tube from elderly people, esp. parents and grandparents with Alzheimers.

I don't think they understand the agony of this kind of death.

-- Joe

[Freepertwo]

I can't help but wonder how old you are. If you're twelve, I understand. If you're actually an AINO (Adult In Name Only) I can merely shake my head and marvel.

[Servant of the 9]

It is not death that is frightening, my dear....it is this extreme case of injustice, and Terri is not the only victim. We as a society are now killing the inconvenient (sound familiar to another culture of the past?). If you can't see that, you'd better dig deep and find your moral compass because you can no longer differentiate between right and wrong.

If I should ever be in her condition, God save me from people like you woh would try to keep me around and extend my suffering for their own purposes.>
Please, if I am ever in that condition,
Let me die.
Help me die
Get me the hell off this planet.

SO9

[Servant of the 9]

How dare you upset freepertwo?

Oh, please, you must be joking.

So9

[Freepertwo]

Fine, so go die when it's your turn and be sure to make a living will that says no food and no water...put it in writing so they know when it's time to execute you. That's your perogative and I respect it. This isn't about you....get it?

[Servant of the 9]

Fine, so go die when it's your turn and be sure to make a living will that says no food and no water...put it in writing so they know when it's time to execute you. That's your perogative and I respect it. This isn't about you....get it?

I have one, thank you.
I have no objection to her being kept as a pet veggie as long as it isn't my money. I know how expensive care like her's is, and you can't buy that much insurance, so her keepers are at the public trough. As long as I pay taxes, it is my business.

So9

[Servant of the 9]

I know several people who are generally pro-life, but get angry and adament about the need to allow the removal of the feeding tube from elderly people, esp. parents and grandparents with Alzheimers.

I don't think they understand the agony of this kind of death.

We know, but the Govt. wouldn't let us use a .45 and do it the way our fathers and mothers had asked us to.

So9

[Zechariah_8_13]

slippery slope ping

[MarMema]

For more than ten years, conscious and unconscious cognitively disabled people who use feeding tubes have been legally dehydrated to death in the United States. This intentional life-ending act-clamping feeding tubes and denying all sustenance-has become so ubiquitous that, generally, little attention is paid.

Guess again.

[MarMema]

Suffice it to say that while many observers continue to oppose, on moral grounds, removing tube-supplied food and water, the hard truth is that patients with serious cognitive incapacities-the conscious as well as the unconscious-are now routinely dehydrated to death in all fifty states.

[Smokin' Joe]

The law, which should be especially vigilant in defending those who can't defend themselves, instead generally reflects the dominant view in bioethics that relative value can be placed on human lives.

How many of us in school (college) in the '70s were given either the 'lifeboat problem' or the 'kidney machine' problem where you had to decide who got to fill a limited number of spots and who died.

I was uncomfortable with the fact that rather than simply drawing straws, we were provided background data on each person and expected to decide their relative worth.

In light of social developments since, it seems safe to say we were being desensitized to performing triage on human characters.

What a short philosophical leap to the real thing.

[watchdog_writer]

many observers continue to oppose, on moral grounds

I do not oppose removing Terri's feeding tube on moral grounds. But thank you for proving my point which is that it is less expensive to kill a patient than to keep them alive. Who benefits the most financially? 

The longstanding legal procedure for removing an incompetent from life support is for the family to produce a document properly executed by the incompetent stating his intention not to be kept alive on life support under certain circumstances. Terri did not execute such a document. The judge accepted the oral testimony of Terri's estranged husband that she would have wanted to die.

To insure that this right is not lost or diminished by virtue of later physical or mental incapacity, the legislature has established a procedure within Florida Statutes Chapter 765 allowing a person to plan for incapacity, and if desired, to designate another person to act on their behalf and make necessary medical decisions upon such incapacity. The suggested form of this instrument has been provided by the legislature within Florida Statutes Section 765.203 http://www.flabar.org/tfb/TFBConsum.nsf/0/b06b42e3e824429985256b2f006c5e5b?OpenDocument

765.305 Procedure in absence of a living will.--

(1) In the absence of a living will, the decision to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures from a patient may be made by a health care surrogate designated by the patient pursuant to part II unless the designation limits the surrogate's authority to consent to the withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures.

(2) Before exercising the incompetent patient's right to forego treatment, the surrogate must be satisfied that:

(a) The patient does not have a reasonable medical probability of recovering capacity so that the right could be exercised by the patient.

(b) The patient has an end-stage condition, the patient is in a persistent vegetative state, or the patient's physical condition is terminal.

[cyborg]

You know a lot of things are done at the convenience of the hospital...I'm thinking of when I was advised not to give elderly patients water to drink because that would mean extra work for me changing the undergarment and it's a waste of time. I really do believe there are elderly and invalid people who are being starved to death for convenience.

[MarMema]

How many of us in school (college) in the '70s were given either the 'lifeboat problem' or the 'kidney machine' problem where you had to decide who got to fill a limited number of spots and who died.

Wow. I remember that in high school. In Germany they apparently gave kids math problems in school to teach that the expense of keeping a disabled person alive would allow a family of four to thrive.

Thanks for reminding me of this.

[MarMema]

Your point was that this is not happening as I recall.
And it happens routinely.

[Ohioan from Florida]

Terri ping! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!

[Theodore R.]

Anyone who does not have one and enters a coma or vegetative state and has bad things happen to them suffers only from their own stupidity.

Not necessarily. With the judicial system in FL and many other states being in a state of decay, "living wills" may be interpreted much as the "living Constitution" by the US Supreme Court. What is in one's "living will" may be the direct ticket to death by all kinds of horrible means at the hands of corrupt doctors, lawyers, and jurists as well as greedy relatives and heartless compatriots.