Woman in Florida left to die in hospital

[Q Classic]

the executive branch has ignored the judicial branch in the past.

andrew jackson, who kicked the cherokee out of ga, told the courts to enforce their decree that he shouldn't kick 'em out.

of course, since it's the judicial branch, they have no enforcement arm..

[- Groucho -]

Jeb Bush's actions are the worst kind of short-sighted political opportunism. Both sides have had a chance to plead their case in court and the courts have agreed with the side that says she told them she didn't want to be kept artificially alive. The executive should be enforcing that decision, not undermining it. By pandering to his constituents, Bush is spitting on the whole idea of having courts and the whole idea of the separation of powers. If the executive branch doesn't abide by the judiciaries' decision, they further degrade the respect the public has for the judiciary. Just like the talk-show hosts who constantly chip away at the judiciary by making shots at their integrity in a biased environment. The more we hold the judiciary up to slanted partisan ridicule and the less respect the executive branch gives them, the more we slip away from the rule of law and into the rule of pure power politics. China is in the grips of a pure-power system where the judiciary often walks in fear of the local administrators. Anyone want to trade our system for theirs?

A political tragedy as icing on the cake of a personal tragedy.

[Q Classic]

i personally don't have too much of an interest outside of it's better to keep her alive; if they do decide to let her die, however, i hope that this time they'll choose something that's quicker and far more painless.

[SpencerH]

It never fails to amaze me how people who clearly dont bother to read (or even listen to) the news can spout political nonsense of one flavour or another.

[Shi Huangdi]

Jeb Bush. Thanks for stepping in to prevent a slow death of starvation.

[Kropotkin]

With the risk of being one of those that Spencer points out in his post, but isn't the reason that she would be killed by stravation that any other, and less painful way, way would be considered murder?

[Jack_www]

Re: Woman in Florida left to die in hospital

Originally posted by Dissident

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/10/15/coma.woman/index.html

Well the husband say the woman told him before she was injured that she wouldn't want to be a burden, and wouldn't want to be kept alive.

But her parents want her to be kept alive.

Her feeding tube has been removed.

She will die in a couple of weeks if she doesn't get food.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I suppore euthanasia, but looking at the video of her makes me think it shouldn't be used in her case.

If I were in her position I would want the feeding tubes removed. I voted that she should live because we have no way of knowing if the husban is telling the truth, that she did indeed tell him that. Since she has no living will and all we have is the husban's word, who has since had one child and one on the way with anther woman they should error on the side of caution and let the woman live.

[David Floyd]

I think there's a simple solution. If the parents want to keep her alive-but-dead, then the hospital can bill them. I don't see why the husband should be forced to pay to keep her alive, against both of their wills.

[SpencerH]

Krop

She's not being killed per se. The husband is trying to allow her to die by preventing her from being given food and water. We have no legal euthanasia here so there is no other way to do it (it would be murder) and since she's not on any mechanical life support there is no quick 'switch' to simply turn off.

Governer Bush (although he obviously agrees with the action) merely signed legislation that had been passed by the Florida house and senate by overwhelming majorities. In no way did he act unilaterally. In fact, he previously said he wouldnt interfere in such a manner.

[Proteus_MST]

It´s difficult.

Ater all we´ve got just tjhe testimony of her husband that she wanted to die under these circumstances.
Would be much easier, if one could talk to her and ask herr if she realy wants to die (which of course isn´t possible in the Condition she is in [and it´s doubtful, that she will be in the condition, if she for some reason awakens ]).

Aftr all I support the right of people to choose their own death, but probably it may be wrong to let her starve to death, as perhaps her last minutes and hours (despite her being in Coma) might be more cruelsme than they would be if someone just injected a poison (or a combination of poisons) into her.

[Kropotkin]

Originally posted by SpencerH
She's not being killed per se.

Well, yes I know. I had "." around the word killed from the beginning but they got lost when I changed the text (bad english more than usual, it was).

[Ben Kenobi]

She's not being killed per se. The husband is trying to allow her to die by preventing her from being given food and water. We have no legal euthanasia here so there is no other way to do it (it would be murder) and since she's not on any mechanical life support there is no quick 'switch' to simply turn off.

So if I kept my child at home and left her without food and water, would I be fine?

I'm very pleased to see Jeb intervene to protect the life of Terri Schiavo.

And one cannot say that she is dead unless one presupposes a quality of life ethic where some lives are not worth living. One can only be determined to be dead if one's body stops functioning or one experiences brain death, neither of which apply to Terri Schiavo.

[Ben Kenobi]

YAY, have the sickness ruin both lives instead of one. Great idea !

And I think it was very noble of him not to file for divorce. It shows he still loves her, as he's still having the legal responsibility for her. Many people would have simply dropped the marriage and forgotten the whole deal

Well, a large fund attracts many managers.

For one who really believes in sticking by one's wife, they would not see this as 'ruining' their life, but rather as a way of expressing their love for their wife. It would be a way to share the limited time that they have together.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi

So if I kept my child at home and left her without food and water, would I be fine?

I'm not sure if you'd be fine, but I stand corrected. She was being killed (if not actively).

I'm very pleased to see Jeb intervene to protect the life of Terri Schiavo.

'Jeb' did not intervene. The governer signed legislation passed by the senate and house. If he had intervened, it would have been wrong and possibly illegal.

And one cannot say that she is dead unless one presupposes a quality of life ethic where some lives are not worth living. One can only be determined to be dead if one's body stops functioning or one experiences brain death, neither of which apply to Terri Schiavo.

Perhaps this is in reference to another post. I never said she was dead, nor do I disagree with the results of the new legislation.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
I'm very pleased to see Jeb intervene to protect the life of Terri Schiavo.

Same here. To starve her is really cruel, since it is not possible to assess whether she feels hunger and pain or not.

It would be much better if her ability to feel could be measured (electric activity in the brain?), and if there could be a clear case whether she should die or not. If yes, then she must be killed with a swift move, rather than by a long starvation