“By now you have probably heard about a young woman who is threatened with starvation in Florida.
That young woman is my daughter, Terri. In 1990, through circumstances which are shrouded in mystery (and may involve a criminal act by Terri’s estranged husband), my daughter was left severely brain-damaged.
But before I go any further, I must put an end to the lies and misinformation that are circulating around the country through the media concerning my daughter’s condition.
Contrary to anything you may have heard, Terri is NOT brain dead; Terri is NOT in a coma; she is NOT in a ‘persistent vegetative state;’ nor is she on ANY life-support system.
Terri laughs, Terri cries, she moves, and she makes child-like attempts at speech with her mother and me. Sometimes she will say ‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’ or ‘yeah’ when we ask her a question. When I kiss her hello or goodbye, she looks at me and ‘puckers up’ her lips.
This may not seem like much to you, but it means everything to Terri’s mother and me. It tells us she is still here, she still knows us, and with therapy and time she can have some level of recovery.
I know that there are some hard hearted people who believe that due to my daughters condition, she is better off dead. Words cannot describe the pain and anger such sentiments cause us. This is our daughter, our little girl, and even in her disabled condition, she still has the right to life and the right to be loved and cared for by her family.
Why, you may ask, is Terry in danger of death by starvation?
It is a long and outrageous story, but I’ll give it to you as briefly as I can.”
Read the rest. Also see yesterday’s post.
(Hat tip: Pro-Life Blogs and Hyscience)
Also see Uncle Sam’s Cabin.
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Those that advocated Terri’s murder by starvation will be “painless”.
as a woman who INTENTIONALLY starved myself for almost 18 years I can say with utmost certainty that “starvation” is oone of the more painful things you can go through!
I ‘m a recovering bulimic and used to skip meals/go to bed hungry all the time.
The pain from huger would torment me, make double over,give me headaches etc.
It was anything but painless.
I at least had the option of changing my situation-Terri is helpless.
Since NO ONE knows EXACTLY what Terri’s wish were, they need to “error” on the side of life-rather than murdering her in such a barbaric fashion! BARB
I meant “advocate….claim it will be painless.”
Too early. Sorry.
I personally don’t see the logic in the estranged husband’s thinking. If he’s unhappy, divorce her, and leave Terri’s care to people who truly love her, ie, her parents.
Money, perhaps?
I had thought that, yes….He gets nothing…but as I’m not that kind of a person, I can’t understand it. It’s unthinkable to me that someone who supposedly loved someone would want to hurt them…which is what he’s trying to do.
Whether she’s the ‘original’ Terri or isn’t, is not to be considered. Somewhere inside her, it’s the Terri he married, and he wants to kill her.
This man should be forcibly divorced from her by the legal system. I know that if I were the parents, I would fight to my last breath to keep my child alive, and I commend Terri’s Father and Mother for continuing despite the heartache and trauma it must be causing them.
I pray for her and them every day.
Dan
Simple tracks won’t let me track back to you so here goes.
http://unclesamscabin.blogspot.com/2005/02/blogging-for-terri-schiavo.html
At the very least someone who stands to gain from Terry’s death should not be in charge of deciding whether she lives or dies. Michael Schiavo’s actions in this matter are highly suspect.
This is a sad case. Unfortunately, treating without conset is assault and battery.
When a person is unable to consent for themselves, consent is given in a succession of closest relatives, or a ward if none are available.
This order is deteremined by state law. I believe all 50 states recognize the legal right of a spouse as superceding those of a parent of sibling.
Jason Begalke
Here we got a person who could be starved all becuase the lowlife no good sidewinder she married wants the money and theres crooked judges who would allow that now imagine if this involved a endangered species the same judges would stop a freeway or a hopital to save the species its just plain sick i tell you and the husband should be hung from a tree along with the judge
LaShawn,
I have followed the Schiavo case, as have many.
Yes, Terri Schiavo is not “brain dead”. Brain death=death. When a person is declared “brain dead” they are also, simultaneously declared dead. Coma Depasse was the original meaningful clinical description of the state were there is no brain activity (and today, we know that brain death, there is also no blood flow to the brain). There is no way to maintain life in the presence of brain death, this includes, but is not limited to ventilation and feeding, hence the description of “beyond coma” (from the French).
And no, Terri Schiavo is not in a coma.
“This woman seems to be aware of her surroundings, but even if she isn’t, her eyes are open and she makes facial gestures. The point that can’t be missed is that Terri is alive.”
Yes, of course Terri Schiavo is alive. There are no claims being made to the contrary.
Which leads to the question as to whether or not Terri Schiavo is indeed, as her doctors and other medical experts have claimed, is in a persitent vegetative state.
My undertanding of reading what is available on this sad and unfortunate case, is that although multiple experts have testified that she is, her parents and others claim she is not.
The court’s decision rests chiefly, but not exclusively, on the accuracy of the diagnosis.
The issues of “substituted judgement” and have, I believe, been correctly addressed in your post.
Certainly her anguished parents have suffered greatly, and I offer them my prayers of support.
As someone who has attended to many score or more patients like Terri Schiavo, I suggest that unless you know with certainty, the medical facts of her condition, that you exercise due caution in endorsing any claim as being “true” at the exlcusion of another, counterfactual claim.
On the other hand, if your opposition to the cessation of feeding Terri Schiavo is the same for all patients, and for any reason, the facts of this case would not then matter.
The Terri Schiavo case is indeed lamentable. However, the blogosphere is missing an important opportunity to educate people about documents such as the Health-Care Proxy or Durable Power of Attorney for Health-Care Decisions. These documents designate an agent who the principal trusts to make medical decisions if the principal lacks capacity to make decisions for him/herself. This is especially helpful if a parent has many children or has no close relatives and a friend is therefore designated. Everyone who does not have one should talk to their doctors about this.
Along with the solicitation for legal fees, we need to solicit ourselves for what amounts to ransom to test this proposition that money is the motive for the husband’s behavior.
It is important that we go on record making this bona fide offer.
Unlike abortion, this is a one time affair. I am in for $100.
–Paul
Here is a URL to test the above proposition: http://info-theory.blogspot.com/2005/02/terri-schiavo-pledge-drive.html
“Contrary to anything you may have heard, Terri is NOT brain dead; Terri is NOT in a coma; she is NOT in a “persistent vegetative state;” nor is she on ANY life-support system”
Contrary to the misinformation you are putting forth on your website: Terris IS IN A PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE.
She kept “alive” via a feeding tube, which does count as being “life-support” since it is supporting her.
I suggest you get your information from her PHYSICIANS instead of some mis-informed, under-educated person with some strange agenda.
“Cleo”, try to post details, rather than assertions. You might get somewhere that way.
If anyone is interested in some facts, please read the “Guardian’s Dec. 2003 report to Gov. Bush” posted on http://www.OrlandoSentinel.com/schiavo
This is the 38 page report created by Dr. Jay Wolfson who was her guardian as a result of Governor Bush’s Terri’s Law. This report is the one the governor called for. It provides Terri’s entire health history, court testimony and the opinions of the neurologists and neurosurgeons. Terri Schiavo’s cerebral cortex has been replaced by spinal fluid. That alone renders her PVS.
The report found that Michael Schiavo was an attentive and loving husband to Terri. He was relentless with nursing home staff and created a scene if any part of Terri’s care was amiss. Terri’s parents signed over guardianship to Michael – that’s how much they knew he loved her and was caring for her.
The most disturbing aspect of the Schindler’s behavior has been that they stated, in court testimony, that even if Terri had expressed wishes of not wanting to be artificially nurished in her present circumstances, they still would not allow the tube’s removal. Additionally, they testified that they would keep her alive “at any and all costs,” even if that meant to amputate her limbs.
With parents like those, who needs enemies?
Whatever your personal views, it doesn’t change the medical, scientific fact that Terri Schiavo is PVS with no hope of recovery.
One only has to use his or her own conscience to know without any doubt that it is unreasonable under any circumstances to starve a person to death. Terri’s fight makes it easy to understand why it is universally agreed by rational beings that euthanasia should not be allowed in cases involving incompetent persons.
In the Netherlands where as much as 92% of people approve of euthanasia Dutch laws are crystal clear that euthanasia IS NOT allowed without the consent of the person to be killed. The Dutch wishing to die must “consistently, repeatedly and lucidly†make requests for euthanasia and then are required to express these wishes to an independently chosen doctor who must concur. Even with these precautions in place it is still possible that doctors could falsely claim patients requested euthanasia. If such concerns seem far-fetched, it is worth noting that the Journal of the American Medical Association, in consultation with Dutch physicians, found that “no request for death was made by the patient” in a very large number of so-called euthanasia cases in Holland between 1990 and 1995. In 1999 the Dutch government decided not to allow children as young as 12 to request euthanasia against their parents’ wishes.
Many people adjust to their disability and dependency and find meaning and value in new activities and ways. Christopher Reeve did. He felt that accomplishments he made after he was disabled were more important and valuable to him and of more benefit overall to society than anything he had ever done before. He was profoundly happy to be alive and live all the days of his life adjusting to living life in a different way.
Watch Terri’s videos. No one that has seen the videos can deny that Terri is purposefully alive and not become uncomfortable with the very THOUGHT of killing her. Watch the videos and ask yourself: could you do it? Could you walk into her room and kill her? Could you starve her to death?
Terri is our Helen of Troy. Helen was rescued from a cruel and powerful husband by a man who truly loved her. For that, an entire kingdom fought and sacrificed much to protect her because that was the right thing to do, and not only that but because to not do so was wrong. Terri is OUR hope. The hope is that we can learn to love each other as we are loved. The hope that we are blessed with wise and understanding hearts that allow us, that compel us, to stand for what’s right, not who’s right. It’s really not just about Terri’s life, it’s also about ours. This is a defining moment for all of us.
Many people, commenting on this tragic story, say “That is no way to live.” Well, no longer receiving food and drink and being unable to beg us not to stop is no way to die.– Jack Bray
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