The Schiavo issue
 

I am a right to die proponent because of some personal issues I won't go into.

However, I am sickened by what is happening here.

If she should die, then just do it. Slit her throat. Bludgeon her to death. Inject her with draino. Smother her. All of these things would be far more humane than removing her feeding tube and allowing her to starve over a few weeks.

Inhumane and sickening.

Her husband or the judge should have to go do the deed instead of sanitizing it by removing the damn tube and washing their hands while other people have to F(*&ing watch her die.

Perhaps Terry Schiavo should murder someone. Then she'd be on death row and no one would allowed to do this to her.

She is not on life support. She has a feeding tube. There is no living will.

Whoever orders her tube to be pulled should grow some damn balls and go do it themselves instead of hiding behind the facade of mercy.

I'm pissed.

Thank Jeb Bush and John Ashcroft. There are more humane ways to die. Ashcroft likes to step in a block any humane right-to-die legislation (stay out of Oregon, Mr. Asscroft, you are NOT welcome here) And Jeb over-stepped his bounds by stopping her death....they need to leave their personal beliefs at the door and follow the letter of the law. Whatever it is, at this point. The whole thing is so screwed up now.

I'm on the husband's side, which is difficult for me.....I watched my uncle die of MS and I watched how his wife, my aunt, suffered but stayed put. He deteriorated to the point that he was harsh and mean to her, like a small child, then pretty much a vegetable on a feeding tube until his body gave out. He didn't starve to death, but his pain was managed until he eventually died. We were lucky enough to know what he wanted to have happen in that final year. Yes, year. It took a year for him to die. It was the most horrific year of my life. Ugh.

If there's a humane way to do it, do it. The whole situation sickens me. I've been following it for years.

Modern society pooh-poohs ethics/philsophy as a meaningless, irrelevant career pursuit. And yet here we are -- huge advances in medical science leave us in these predicaments and we as a society don't know what to do.

My mom died of lupus slowly over 13 years. Died when I was 15. Ripped our family apart. In the case of my mom, the doctor threatened to sue our fmaily if we only stopped giving her her medication, as he was fearful of a malpractice suit. I have no problem with the terminally ill being permitted to do whatever.

Terry Schiavo isn't terminally ill. What she is is an inconvenience to her "husband", who could simply divorce her, as he has obviously moved on emotionally. Her parents are willing to care full time for her.

Claire, I would suggest that should you be in the shoes of her parents, you might just want to keep your child alive. If I am assuming too much, my apologies.

Claire, sorry, but to blame Ashcroft and Jeb Bush is simply ridiculous. I could go into all the reasons why, but that's not the point of the post. Bush did step in, yes, but there is most certainly governmental interests in this case related to law. I bet Terry's parents were pretty glad he did.

Unfortunately, there's no way to prove one way or the other if what he claims is true, but if your loved one had specifically said to you, "Don't ever keep me alive as a vegetable, would you just them over to someone to keep them alive? Assuming he's telling the truth, it's not about the expens of keeping her alive, it's about her specifically saying she would rather die than be in the state she's in. I'm have no opinion on it, because there's literally no way to know if he's telling the truth. He'd fight just as hard either way.

This is why there are legal documents to cover such things.

I am having surgery on April 14. Believe me, I made my living will when the surgery was set.

He may very well be telling the truth. The point is, we don't know. It is apparent to me that he has completely emotionally divorced himself from the situation, but I could be wrong. I don't see how he could be in the long term relationship ith the other woman, having a couple of kids with her, if it weren't the case. If I am right in that he has, wouldn't it makes sense to allow someone else to make the decision, such as her parents, who are desperate to care for her and keep her alive?

Again, I can't form an opinion. If, in fact, she did say that to him, even if they didn't have the sense to draw up the legal document, it must be horrible to know she's suffering against her will. As for emotionally divorcing himself from her, everyone deals with things their own way and it's been so many years I can't exactly blame him for cointinuing to want to live despite the horrible stuggle he's dealing with. No matter what, IF what he claims is true, then I don't blame him one bit for fighting to grant his wife her wish no matter what he's done with his continuing life. While at the same time, IF what he says is false, then screw him. That's the one and only thing it hinges on, and the one and only thing that can't be determined. So I can't say either way what I think is right. Only he knows.

I have to say that frankly I don't care who has the decision making process. It's an issue, but frankly, whether she lives or dies isn't the issue to me.

My point is this - I do not know how it is possible for a judge to order someone to starve to death. That is just sickening. The person who gives the order for that, regardless of the reason why, should grow a big set and go kill her in a quick and humane fashion.

I'll tell you - if the order is passed and they pull the tube and I were her dad, I'd kill her. Is there a jury in the world that would convict? Now that would be a mercy killing. Killing her so that the government mandated starvation wouldn't be such torture.

Even if she had it in writing it doesn't mean her wishes would followed. Living wills are turning more into *guidelines* then anything.

This whole situation is very sad. To starve to death will be a horrible way to die. Let her die without pain, without suffering.
Sca, I fully agree with you. Someone needs to grow a set and just let her die painfree.

We can put our pets to sleep when they are in pain and terminal. We don't want them to suffer. Why do we allow humans to suffer?

I think that if the husband didn't care or was in it for the money he would have divorced her and turned custody over to her parents. He's turned down boatloads of money to relinquish care to her family. Back when this all started I doubt the husband said "this will drag on for years and I can make so much money from this and get fame and fortune".

If Jeb didn't get involved and pass a law that was later deemed unconstitutional no one would be blaming him. If our rights weren't slowing being taken away because of the religious undertones and beliefs of this government no one would be blaming the government (any members of it).

It's not about "growing a set" it's about the stupidity that assissted suicide is illegal.