Terri Schiavo

I might not be that informed on this subject, but isn't this the same type of situation as something "pulling the plug"??
No, 'pulling the plug' normally results in a near immediate death as the patient is being kept alive artificially on machines. Ms. Schindler-Shiavo's condition is more self sustaining than that. Her body is able to keep all the required organs working in order to maintain life. She cannot, though, feed herself and has a feeding tube surgically implanted through her abdomen. When they pull the plug in her case, she will starve to death.

I can understand all sides in this situation, believe it or not. Mr. Shiavo wants to move on with his life and carry out what he feels is his wife's unwritten living will by letting her die. The Schindler family wants to keep her alive in belief that she can make progress given proper treatment and therapy. I would imagine that their position also rests on the fact that it is very hard to 'give up and let go'.

It is a very hard decision, no matter which opinion you side with.

Most definitely. Honestly, I couldn't imagine being in either side's position.

No, 'pulling the plug' normally results in a near immediate death as the patient is being kept alive artificially on machines. Ms. Schindler-Shiavo's condition is more self sustaining than that. Her body is able to keep all the required organs working in order to maintain life. She cannot, though, feed herself and has a feeding tube surgically implanted through her abdomen. When they pull the plug in her case, she will starve to death.

I can understand all sides in this situation, believe it or not. Mr. Shiavo wants to move on with his life and carry out what he feels is his wife's unwritten living will by letting her die. The Schindler family wants to keep her alive in belief that she can make progress given proper treatment and therapy. I would imagine that their position also rests on the fact that it is very hard to 'give up and let go'.

It is a very hard decision, no matter which opinion you side with.

Right now I am swaying towards Mr. Shiavo's side but if this were my daughter I would probably be the other way around. I don't think I could ever let my daughter just die. In fact, I know I would never let my daughter die if there was even the tiniest bit of hope.

No, 'pulling the plug' normally results in a near immediate death as the patient is being kept alive artificially on machines. Ms. Schindler-Shiavo's condition is more self sustaining than that. Her body is able to keep all the required organs working in order to maintain life. She cannot, though, feed herself and has a feeding tube surgically implanted through her abdomen. When they pull the plug in her case, she will starve to death.

I can understand all sides in this situation, believe it or not. Mr. Shiavo wants to move on with his life and carry out what he feels is his wife's unwritten living will by letting her die. The Schindler family wants to keep her alive in belief that she can make progress given proper treatment and therapy. I would imagine that their position also rests on the fact that it is very hard to 'give up and let go'.

It is a very hard decision, no matter which opinion you side with.

Yes, no matter what your position is or the outcome, there are no winners regardless of what happens.

What the parents are contesting is not only the possibility that Terri's situation may improve, but also the possibility that Terri never told her husband she wanted to be disconnected from life support if she was in a vegetative state. The husband supposedly wants to pocket money he got in a malpractice suit that is contingent upon her never returning from her vegetative state. Moreover, the husband cannot marry his girlfriend of over one decade until Terri is dead. So, the parents say the husband is lying to get money and married. Whether their allegations are true is subject to endless debate.

As for the court ruling on "moral issues," I think for one the Court should rule on moral issues. It does so every single day - whether its immoral to sentence to death minors or the mentally retarded, etc. Moreover, it's not just about moral issues; it's about who has the right to tell doctors to severe the life support for another person. That's a pretty serious issue.

the husband honestly probably knows her wishes better... the things a mess, and one of the big problems is that euthanasia is so frowned upon in this country... sometimes its time to go... a living will would have prevented this, but even though they're important things to have, very few people write them. Congress should have stayed a million miles away from this... I think what they've done is really disgusting (hey look, i'm a champion of the ill cause it'll help me get re-elected, but i couldn't tell you the name of this woman'ss mother, how long she's been married, her favorite color or anything else that'd prove i actually knew her :P bite me.)

I do not agree how this country looks upon euthanasia. I mean we, as humans, take better care of our pets than we do ourselves. I am not sure about everyone but if my dog was terminally ill, I would have a vet do the right thing and end my dogs suffering, meanwhile my poor grandmother has to lie in a hospitle bed suffering just waiting to die, I know that this might sound morbid but its true.

My thought on the situation is this.... she should be kept alive today; weather that is what she wanted or not. It should have been in writing and she should have signed a DNR or somthing. I just think if the is that one little off-chance that the husband is not telling the truth about this; it would be absolutley shameful. In addition, like Cpayne pointed out; its not like an "Immediate Death", this sucks. Shes been without food and water for seven days!! What the hell is that??? God I dont even know what side of the fence I'm on, but this situation is awful. I think awareness should be increased(and by this case it proboly is) about having a living will, incase somthing like that happened to you or a loved one. I could never imagine living like that. I feel awful for her parents too; just watching your kid die like that, truly terrible.

Living wills are a difficult thing to think about but they are very important. My family went through that with my dad this past fall (luckily he's better now) but it was pretty gut-wrenching to sit at the dinner table with my family every week and talk about what to do should the need arise.

The problem is, she is a human being and you can't euthanize a human. The other problem is, she would most likely live on life support until her dying days... The type of death she is suffering right now is a slow one.