The Schiavo issue

[alphabassettgrrl]

My turn.
Somebody posted assisted suicide should be legal- I agree. There is an element of danger to this, as we might pressure Grandma to take that option and preserve the cash for her heirs, but on the whole, I do think there is a (small) place for it.

Starvation is inhumane- if you're going to kill her, do it quickly. Ok, I'll agree there, though if you listen to the doctors, she doesn't have the brain capacity to suffer, so the only suffering is going on in the people around her. Is it a "peaceful" death? I can't say. In an aware person, probably not. The problem lies that she retains enough brain-stem function to continue breathing. If she didn't, this would be less of an issue, and she would have died the first time they cut off her life support.

Why might she want to die? I certainly would, in that state. Absolutely. Cut the tube, freeze me, smother me, inject me with a lethal dose of something. Whatever. I'd be horrified to be trapped there, awareness or no. Hope for a recovery is a great thing, but when that's gone? Send me along- I'll send you a postcard from wherever I wind up.

I most assuredly would want my husband to be the one making my decisions. I've talked with him about this stuff more than with my family. I can't imagine the bad blood in that family- your husband fighting your parents in court? How horrible.

Sad for everyone involved.