Terri did not have an advance directive.
Michael did not have the legal authority to kill Terri. He did not forfeit that nonexistent right and voluntarily petition the court to exercise his rights for him. The court did not have the legal authority to become Terri’s surrogate. That is expressly forbidden by law. The court did rule that Terri would want to be deprived of her rights and tortured to death, and that the clear and convincing requirement had been met. The evidence did not support such a ruling. All of the witnesses on Terri’s side provided clear and convincing evidence that she was a pro-life Catholic who opposed killing and being killed. Even Michael testified that she wanted to live for the next fifty years being taken care of by him. How does that translate into a desire to be tortured to death?
Þ
I think it was Twain who said “it’s not what people don’t know that make them ignorant it’s what they know that ain’t so.”