Terry Shiavo and the Sanctity of Life...

[Makalakumu]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7212079/

Republican leaders said they had struck a deal on legislation aimed at allowing Shiavo to resume being fed while a federal court decides the right-to-die battle between her parents and her husband.

"We think we have found a solution" to the Terri Schiavo case, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

"I'm pleased to announce that House and Senate Republican leadership have reached an agreement on a legislative solution," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said a few hours later at the start of a brief Senate session.

"Under the legisltion we will soon consider Terry Schiavo will have another chance," said Frist.

Apparently, the GOP believe in the Sanctity of Life. This case sure brings a lot of attention to that fact. What do you think?

 

[kenpo tiger]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7212079/



Apparently, the GOP believe in the Sanctity of Life. This case sure brings a lot of attention to that fact. What do you think?

I think that quality of life should be considered. Is she being kept alive for her own sake or that of her parents?

 

[Makalakumu]

I think that quality of life should be considered. Is she being kept alive for her own sake or that of her parents?

They are starving her to death. We put our family pets down more humanely and for less cause. She may be in a "vegetative state" but who knows what that means? If they want to kill her, they should use morphine or something painless.

That is one talking point for sure.

The other is the way these politicians are crawling out of the woodwork to slap on the moral armor and rattle their swords. The smell of a hypocrite is thick in the air...

 

[stauburn]

As a nurse, I see many people in her health state and her family situation all the time. I can tell you of countless times I have seen families battle over this same dilemma none of which as gone to court.I have personally been involved in the withdrawl of support of IV's & feeding tubes and I can honestly say that the patients never appeared to have suffered ( some appeared to suffer more while we were keeping them alive)and they all were provided excellent comfort care( pain meds, bathing, skin & mouth care etc.)

We can argue this subject forever, but what it shows us is the importance of having a living will that clearly outlines our wishes and who makes our healthcare decisions for us if we are unable too.

Peace

 

[michaeledward]

This is a horribly sad situation. Couple of random thoughts:

Republicans and Sanctity of Life, please, like baseball and steroids, this is about headlines for the politicians. Florida has the executed 59 people since 1976, with 384 on 'Death Row'.

Assuming the Republicans in Florida are Christian, I remind them 'A man shall leave his family, and a woman leave her home, and the two shall become one'. The politicians should honor the wishes of the husband.

Starving to death is certainly not humane. There are times when Dr. Kavorkians' machines are beneficial.

Shame on the Florida legislature. Shame on Jeb Bush. Shame on the Federal Republicans. Shame on her parents.

There are times when medical science is too good for its own good.

 

[Melissa426]

This is a link written by a bioethicist regarding the case. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7231440/

Regardless of how you feel about end of life decisions, I hope you will consider writing your US house and senate represenatatives and urge them NOT to meddle in this woman and her husband's personal tragedy for the sake of political grand-standing. I think it could set dangerous precedents.

www.house.gov

www.senate.gov

Peace,
Melissa

 

[Makalakumu]

Republicans and Sanctity of Life, please, like baseball and steroids, this is about headlines for the politicians. Florida has the executed 59 people since 1976, with 384 on 'Death Row'.

One can only shake your head and wonder...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7212079/

A small group of supporters, including some who have camped out for days, congregated outside the hospice. New protest signs were put up Sunday saying “Save Terri Schiavo From State-Sponsored Murder!” and “Free Terri, jail the rest.”

 

[kenpo tiger]

One can also wonder where in he** these people have been for the past fifteen years. Do they pay her medical bills? Have they been agonizing over this poor woman and hoping for her recovery? Of course not. They are doing this for themselves as well -- same as the anti-abortion group. They don't know her. They aren't related to her. They are meddling in someone else's life for their own comfort and to advance their own agendae. Shame on them.

 

[shesulsa]

We can argue this subject forever, but what it shows us is the importance of having a living will that clearly outlines our wishes and who makes our healthcare decisions for us if we are unable too.

Terry Shiavo had a living will, but it is not enough. You must find a person in whom you are willing to place all your trust and assign them a Durable Medical Power of Attorney. You must also make your wishes known to friends and family and provide them with end-of-life documentation. I can't express how very little this is ever done.

As far as my personal opinion on this case, I am quite torn. I believe in the right to die, however, this woman would apparently respond at times to stimulation from people she recognized. There is talk that she improved with some therapy but her husband ended her therapy (most likely couldn't afford it). So ... could there be a spark? It doesn't appear to me that she is "asleep" as in a coma. Though she needs constant, complete care, part of her is there.

It must take terrible courage to sign your daughter's life away - to give up hope and assign all trust in the all-that-is. I pray I never must make that decision.

 

[BrandiJo]

i think starving her will be inhumane, but its her right to live or die and her husband should have that choice but not this way and not if she has any hope of recovering

 

[kenpo tiger]

If she's going to recover, she will despite any heroic efforts by medical science. It's been fifteen years. If she's still in a vegetative state, then being off the machines will prove whether she is truly going to survive.

Of course one doesn't ever want to make a decision like this about one's child, but she's a married woman, and I would imagine that, even in a place like Florida, her husband is her legal guardian/voice. It is not up to her parents any longer from what I have been reading.

And -- outside interference is abhorrent -- especially that of the government.

Too much control over our personal lives is an infringement on our personal liberty in my opinion.

 

[Cryozombie]

One can also wonder where in he** these people have been for the past fifteen years. Do they pay her medical bills? Have they been agonizing over this poor woman and hoping for her recovery? .

Agoinizing? Do you mean her husband? Correct me if i am Misinformed, but isnt he "shacked up" with another woman he has two children with? And doesnt he stand to gain, on top of the large Malpractice settlement he won, another 1.7 MILLION bucks if she is allowed to die?

Ill reserve judgement on the case, but I would think her husbands motives would be suspect.

 

[rmcrobertson]

I love it when civil libertarians start demanding that the State step in to private lives.

I've heard and read a lot of accusations against the husband. Oddly, there doesn't seem to be any evidence for them.

But if there were, so, this would mean that every time we disapprove of what goes on in someone's marriage, well, let's just have a crowd of right-wing yahoos show up on the front lawn and start screaming.

 

[Kenpodoc]

One of the toughest secisions in medicine is deciding whether an action will prolong a life or prolong the death process. This is a frequently difficult decision.

Jeff

 

[Tgace]

My wife told be that she had heard on the news that Mrs.Shiavo was anorexic/bulimic and that contributed to her collapse and current condition (unverified). How cruelly ironic if she were to be starved to death in the end....

 

[Mark Weiser]

Wow there are so many aspects of this case to hit on.

• Right to a dignified death
• right of privacy
• debates that pits religious zeal aganist medical ethics
• having people screaming for the President to send in US Marshals and Secert Service Agents to protect her. I belong to another Talk group and this was really suggested.
• Have the President of the USA get involved.

From my nursing experience we are taught that quality of life is the issue not the amount of life. Being unable to led a life that was standardized for this client before her unfortunante event has to be weighed. Socialist type people in government getting involved are in it for one reason it is the hot issue of the week or month for re election purposes. We have clients just like her in my nursing home I work in and they die with or without g tubes.

This decision is to be handled by the Husband alone. When she left the house and married this man. She is not under the authority of her father or mother for the rest of her life as long as she is married. This is a legal precedent.

So in short I think the government and all others not in her immeadate family should be quiet and let this family grief and be at peace.

 

[kenpo tiger]

My wife told be that she had heard on the news that Mrs.Shiavo was anorexic/bulimic and that contributed to her collapse and current condition (unverified). How cruelly ironic if she were to be starved to death in the end....

I heard that as well. Too bad no one was screaming to help her when she really needed it.

And Robert, a tip of the hat to you yet again.

Techno, I may sound a bit cold saying this, but if your spouse was in a vegetative state for fifteen years, would you still be of a mind to live your life the way it was? I can say with certainty that I absolutely would not want my husband to -- but then again, I also know he would never allow me to suffer, and that the converse is true as well.

 

[Tgace]

I suppose that an issue close to the crux here is do we trust medical science enough to believe them when they say that this woman is in a "persistent vegetative state"? She apparently has some sort of brain function as reports state that she responds in some manner to stimulation (when spoken to). For all we know she could be conscious "in there" and then the prospect of starving a conscious person to death is somewhat less palatable.

For those with medical training. Is feeding all that is done to support cases like this? I would think that various medications to prevent infections, pneumonia, influenza etc. would have to be administered as well. Is just reducing care to basic life support (food/air) an option?

 

[RRouuselot]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7212079/



Apparently, the GOP believe in the Sanctity of Life. This case sure brings a lot of attention to that fact. What do you think?

If it was me in the same situation I would want someone to pull my plug and let me go meet with God.

 

[AnimEdge]

IS taht actually what they are doing when they remove the feeding tubes is starving to death? i allways thought it was a figure of speach i did not know that that is actually what they do, that is pretty harse to starve to death.

What is the point in having her live anyways? Is there even a chance of her becomeing back to "Normal"? Or is it just a power struggle? Man if i was in her place i woudl hope for them to "let me go"