Bush signs emergency law to preempt state courts ref Terry Schiavo

[Drake Tungsten]

I think you are pretty out of touch if you think Terri Schiavo has brain functions equivalent to that of a sea cucumber...

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Mrs. Tuberski
regardless of what state she is in the parents should be allowed some decison in whether to starve their kid to death. after all they did give her life.

I disagree. When she became an adult, their parental rights were terminated. When she married someone else, she explicately gave her spouse that right to be her guardian should something like this happen. If she didn't want her husband to have a say, she could have created a living will giving those rights to her parents. Of course, had she thought that far ahead, she probably would have left instructions.

Alright, let's try another tack. What if she had left explicit written instructions that she should not be kept alive in this state. Would you still be arguing for her parents right to interfere? If not, why does it make a difference?

[Boris Godunov]

To be clear, Schiavo won't starve to death, she'll die of kidney failure. And it wouldn't be painful for her, even if she weren't in a PVS. So the moaning about how she's "starving to death" is just emotional claptrap without any bearing on reality (especially since she is in a PVS).

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
I think you are pretty out of touch with the facts if you think Terri Schiavo has brain functions equivalent to that of a sea cucumber...

As far as any self awareness goes, yes, they are equivalent. Actually, a sea cucumber is slightly more aware of its environment than what was Terry Schiavo is now.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
I think you are pretty out of touch if you think Terri Schiavo has brain functions equivalent to that of a sea cucumber...

why? it's the truth

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Tuberski


So, this body, that is a thing, somehow managed to inform the husband of her wishes?

ACK!

Own goal!

[Dis]

I no longer care about this case. I'm disgusted.

I hope she dies.

[Drake Tungsten]

What if she had left explicit written instructions that she should not be kept alive in this state. Would you still be arguing for her parents right to interfere?

No.

If not, why does it make a difference?

If she had written them down, her wishes would have been clear. They aren't clear now, as all we have to go on is the word of a husband with conflicted interests.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

If not, why does it make a difference?

If she had written them down, her wishes would have been clear. They aren't clear now, as all we have to go on is the word of a husband with conflicted interests.

All people involved have conflicted interests. People always will have conflicted interests. That doesn't mean the baser interests are the ones winning out.

It's obvious to anyone that the parents don't have the best interests of their child's body at stake. They want to salve their own emotions. They don't want to let their daughter go, so they want to force others to waste resources caring for a corpse. You think these are people who are selfless and should be listened to?

Hell, these are the people who were living with Terri when she was starving herself to death. They are hardly the best people to be making decisions for the body. If they'd been good parents in the first place, maybe she wouldn't have felt the need to kill herself to get some approval.

All the behavior of these parents shows that these are some extremely selfish people. Why would anyone take their word for anything? Hell, they probably realize that Terri's corpse is a money making machine. Ultrachristians are lining up around the block to donate money. They'll be sitting pretty with millions.

[Drake Tungsten]

They don't want to let their daughter go, so they want to force others to waste resources caring for a corpse.

I thought the parents had offered to pay for her continuing care?

[Dis]

Okay I lied, I'm not sick of this story yet.

Where can I find unbiased history of what happened here? I have been reading some pretty nasty stuff the husband did, but I'm not sure I can believe this stuff. I'm curious of the hole history of this thing. A timeline of sorts.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

They don't want to let their daughter go, so they want to force others to waste resources caring for a corpse.

I thought the parents had offered to pay for her continuing care?

Look how much court time has been wasted. Look at how much government time has been wasted. All the resources expended on this piece of meat are resources that could be used on a person that still exists.

Anyway, I wasn't serious. I was just engaging in the same type of unsubstanitated character assassination that you and others have been engaging in. I just wanted you to see how easy it was to make crap up about a persons' motives. I mean it looks good, and I pulled it all out of my butt.

[Drake Tungsten]

Where can I find unbiased history of what happened here?

Good luck. I found a decent history last night, but it dealt solely with the legal issues involved. Not sure it's what you're looking for.

[Drake Tungsten]

Look how much courrt time has been wasted. Look at how much government time has been wasted. All the resources expended on this piece of meat are resources that could be used on a person that still exists.

Well, if Michael Schiavo had spent a little of that malpractice money that he was supposed to spend on treatment for his wife on actually treating his wife, we might not have had to deal with this. It's pretty clear that the falling out between husband and parents happened because the parents didn't feel he was interested any longer in trying to treat Terri's condition...

[Boris Godunov]

From a political angle, this looks like it could be bad news for the GOP. America does not like what Congress is doing:

http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/978a1Schiavo.pdf

Removal of feeding tube
Support 63
Oppose 28

Federal Intervention

Support 35
Oppose 60

Appropriate for Congress to get involved?

Appropriate 27
Not Appropriate 70

Reason political leaders are trying to keep Shiavo alive

Concern about Shiavo 19
Political Advantage 67

Even 46% of Evangelicals support removing the tube, while 54% of all conservatives do.