TERRY SCHIAVO, Was her death necessary, or precedent?

[mamadadawahwah]

I am sickened by the american government's failure to act to protect the weak and vulnerable and worry that Terry's death is just a prelude to what is going to happen in the future, despite living wills. Was her death a test case to see how the world reacts to shutting off life support? It was all so cold and something stinks about the whole thing. God Bless Terry and her family!. God knows what they must have gone through.

I have many many views on this, where I have tried to look at it from all the different angles until my head exploded.

The only thing I was certain about was that she should not be starved to death. This is the situation that calls for legalising euthanasia, so that she could have been let go quickly, and peacefully.

12 days of starvation IS barbaric, helping a woman who has no life and no chance of recovery to die in a gentle, fast way would not have been.

Flame- there are a lot of people who would dispute the word starvation in HER condition... starvation has an emotional connotation as well.

Her death was long and drawn out, and made the family suffer, regardless of whether she could feel the pain. Murderers get enough respect for a quick injection.

I know what you mean..... would she have been through this if medical "advance" was the way it is.... some decades ago she would have died 15 years ago!

I find the amount of misinformation & misunderstanding on this thread very disturbing. God forbid any government ever tramples on my wishes by assuming they ("the government") knows what I would really want.

Yes, I think you have to look at the most basic facts.

Terri said that she never wanted to be kept alive for a long time in a vegetative state. Imagine how horrified she'd be to know that, not only were her wishes not respected, but her picture of her in this state has appeared on thousands of newsreports and TV programmes and that she has been debated in countelss courts of law so that someone (be it her parents) could go against her wishes.

Perhaps her parents have some answering to do. I'd hate to think this could happen to me. It's nobody's business but the woman and her husband who was granted the right - legally through marriage - to act upon her wishes.

I just hope that this case has taught as many of us as possible that we should make a living will as well as a dying one. So that our wishes are clear, and no-one is put through this decision

Would that stop someone's parents believing that their child meant or thought otherwise - this is a general question... not specific to this case. I think you will always have strong believers who will fight on topics like this.

I think that if the person has made the living will - and has told everyone that they have done it, surely it can't be overthrown???

No- but Terri's parents fought for 7 years and they lost every decision !

Flame Sparrow, I would argue that she had had a long drawn out death for 14 years. 12 days is a small (although not small enough) cost to be allowed to die. Had attempts been made at euthanasia the case would be lost and she would still be existing.