Posted on 02/25/2005 7:57:51 AM PST by AliVeritas
Sometimes even newspaper columnists change their minds.
In the matter of Terri Schiavo, the permanently brain-damaged former suburban Philadelphia woman caught in a life-and-death tug-of-war, this columnist has changed his.
I no longer so blithely believe Schiavo's feeding tubes should be pulled and her life allowed to end. I'm no longer so sure her parents do not deserve a say in their daughter's future. I no longer am totally comfortable assuming her husband, Michael, who now has two children by another woman, is acting unselfishly.
That's not to say I have changed my opinion about the right of all of us to die with dignity when life has lost all meaning. But for Terri Schiavo, who lingers in a Florida nursing home, the devil is in the details, uncomfortable details that raise sticky moral dilemmas.
Detail 1: Terry Schiavo is not dying. She is not being kept alive artificially. Her heart beats and lungs breathe without help. She cannot swallow food or water. Once the feeding tube is removed, she would slowly starve to death over days or weeks.
Detail 2: Schiavo is not comatose. Her eyes open, and she sometimes responds to stimuli. Doctors say there is no brain activity and her responses are simply reflexive. Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, want to believe otherwise.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Now I read on another thread that's she's "safe" until March 18th. Which is correct?
Guess I have to listen to the radio until I hear another report.
Hearing it again on the bottom of the hour "newsflash". The stay has been denied but case is under review....now they say the rest, this review has extended her life until Mar 18th.
Amazing how leaving out a choice piece of info sort of changes the whole story.
I'm very pro-euthanasia, just like I'm very pro-RKBA. I think free citizens have unfettered rights to carry arms while they're alive, and to determine for themselves when they don't want to be alive any more. In addition, I do/will exercise those rights for myself. I don't want anybody wasting time and money to keep me alive when I'm no longer able to do anything, or to communicate, or when I'm suffering so much that I'd rather be dead.
I have strong legal protections against being murdered by some thug on the street, but of course it can still happen. Just because legal protections can be circumvented by those bent on breaking the law, is not a reason to prevent people from having their expressed euthanasia wishes carried out. Likewise, the fact that thugs still murder people even though it's illegal and carries strong penalties, is not a reason for the government to disarm the general public.
I didn't say the legal protections would be violated, as in your misguided murder example.
I said they would evaporate!
People would find excuses, such as Terri's situation, to errode those "legal protections".
Those "legal protections" would not last as long as butter on a Bagdad sidewalk.
This poor women's Husband has chosen another for his wife, so how many wifes does one get at a time in this country. This man needs to move on and let this woman alone and look after his wife with the two kids.
Violate, evaporate, whatever. I'm no more worried about protections against unwanted euthanasia evaporating, than about protections against forced life-extension evaporating (and those are very shaky already).
Bump.
Let's become the media and show them what we are made of. Maybe they will emulate the same. Hopefully they will not continue devolving.
I'm absolutely sickened by this news. This Judge is not worthy to sit on a bench or be part of the Judiciary. He's certainly not fit to make decisions on who lives and who dies. WHERE IS GOVERNOR BUSH??? HE MUST ACT NOW!!
Remember, they wouldn't even let her take communion last time, lest she be momentarily nourished by a taste of bread and wine.
Does this answer your question?
Try Bugmenot.com and enter www.philly.com for a pre-registered user name and password. It's great for other sites too.
I think it would be more effective if we sent some of our RINOs. Get them to go over there spewing their garbage about how Terri should die. The DUers, thinking that is the attitude of real conservatives, will automatically take the opposite position.
One major difficulty is that if people whose lives are miserable are allowed to end them, those who want them dead will have an incentive to make them miserable. Instead of giving patients treatment to make them feel better, it'll be cheaper for nursing homes to give them false treatments that make them so miserable they ask to be killed.
That's what I thought. Thanks.
This whole thing screams for justice.
Thank you, T'wit. It was a rhetorical question, but your answer is certainly helpful to many who are unfamiliar with Terri's case, or misled by the slipshod MSM coverage.
New twists arise for Schiavo
Feb. 25, 2005
Herald Staff Writer
Excerpts from the report:
Richard LaBelle, a Dunedin attorney who works with the advocacy center, said the agency reviewed court files and other medical records that were readily available and presented them to a medical expert who said he needed to examine Terri Schiavo before deciding whether she had been mistreated.
LaBelle said the group needed Michael Schiavo's permission to examine his wife and didn't get it. LaBelle said he welcomed DCF's involvement in the case now.
"I think that as an advocate for persons with disabilities, I think any claims should be resolved before further action is taken," LaBelle said. "I think the line should be drawn in favor of pursuing a good faith investigation."
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/10985987.htm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.