[Genryu]

Excuse me for asking, but, from a neutral point of view, which is more  important in her eyes ? The guy she sweared an oath to spend the rest of her life with, or her parents. Given that she didn't have a choice of parents, but had the choice to marry or not, my opinion is clear-cut. And frankly, once she's dead, she's dead. Be it in ash or 6 feet under, I don't think it justifies getting that worked up upon where she ends up.

[vyper]

Originally posted by Deepblue


She did have visual tracking!!! Or was that just another "reflex."

I'd imagine, YES!

[Flipside]

I think, upon looking at the sources of info in this link my feelings are :-

Terri was braindead. She had been in care for a large number of years and had shown little, if any improvement. We cannot know what she wanted, we only have the Husbands word to go on. If those wishes are against Pro-Life beliefs, it doesn't automatically follow that he is lying or evil. As for the husbands motivation in this, I don't know him, and I never heard of him before a few days ago, I can't stand in judgement from News reports, because I cannot trust their impartiality.

The Autopsy is a good idea, it may not be palatable to some, but I think this needs closure.

Edit : The Schiavo affair, not this thread

[Ashrak]

well aside from the fact that they tortured her to death (cmon 14 days without food and water instead of a lethal morphine dosage?!) i dont see anything wrong with euthanasia ... hell im 18 and i say with all certainty if i was a vegetable i would have prefered to die.


and i would also prefer to die if i was paralized neck below and other such matters.

[Flipside]

Yes, the method of death was horrible, that was the worst part of it.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally posted by Ghostavo
BBC? Left-leaning?

By American standards, yes.

[pyro-manic]

I fail to see why this is/was news. Distracts from the important stuff (like the completion of George Tennent's scapegoating), I suppose, so that's a reason, but this exact thing happens all the time, all over the world. It's hardly a new thing....

Withdrawing food is a nasty way to kill someone, I agree, but if they actively killed her (ie an overdose) then there'd be people screaming murder....

[Ford Prefect]

I fail to see why this is/was news. Distracts from the important stuff (like the completion of George Tennent's scapegoating), I suppose, so that's a reason, but this exact thing happens all the time, all over the world. It's hardly a new thing....

Bingo. The powers that be love this kind of sideshow. It's a shiny object that entertains the people so engrossingly that they don't even feel the dick of the corporate world in their ass and the dick of the government in their mouth.

[Flipside]

Well, whether you call it assisted suicide, Euthenasia or Murder, I'd prefer it over the slow wasting. That said, you are both 100% correct, and it will continue going on long long after the name Terri Schiavo is long forgotten. And if it is not this, it will be some other shiny object for people to gawk at and be thankful it's not them.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Flipside
Yes, the method of death was horrible, that was the worst part of it.

To be fair, many - possibly all - of the symptoms of dehydration/starvation are the same as existing symptoms of PVS; when viewing what for us would be a horrible death, it's possibly worth noting that for someone in her condition there is not the brain function to process most (if not all) of the feelings and conciousness that makes it unpleasant.

[Flipside]

Hmmmmmm... I suppose a lot of my empathy lay with the people who had to watch her die in such a way. I suppose that would be my main concern for me, would be to have people hanging on 'just in case' when they should be getting on with their lives. That memory, of watching her unknowingly starve to death will leave a far deeper scar, I feel, than a simple ending of pain for all involved, but then, to me Euthenasia is not just about ending the pain of the dying, it's about ending the pain of those left behind as well.

[Goober5000]

Convicted criminals: Check.
Unborn children: Check.
The disabled: Check.
Next up: The elderly.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Flipside
Hmmmmmm... I suppose a lot of my empathy lay with the people who had to watch her die in such a way. I suppose that would be my main concern for me, would be to have people hanging on 'just in case' when they should be getting on with their lives. That memory, of watching her unknowingly starve to death will leave a far deeper scar, I feel, than a simple ending of pain for all involved, but then, to me Euthenasia is not just about ending the pain of the dying, it's about ending the pain of those left behind as well.

Well, yeah, I agree on that with respect to the family.  But there's been a lot of over-emotive comparisons made with torture, concentration camps, etc - which is really a deliberate misrepresentation to support a viewpoint.

[Flipside]

It is a valid question to ask why this particular case was highlighted. As has been said before, it goes on everywhere, everyday. I suppose part of me feels like the line between 'reality' and 'reality TV' is getting more and more blurred. I find that thought quite scary.

A case like this will cause emotions in people, it did in me, I'd be lying to say otherwise, but what made this case make it's way not only into Americas headlines, but into the UK's as well? A more pessimistic side of me says that we will be seeing more of these cases in the US. I have an inkling, but we will have to wait and see.

[vyper]

Originally posted by Goober5000


Convicted criminals: Check.
Unborn children: Check.
The disabled: Check.
Next up: The elderly.

What exactly are you trying to infer? Eugenics? Or that this is somehow in your mind related to prolife issues?

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by vyper
What exactly are you trying to infer? Eugenics? Or that this is somehow in your mind related to prolife issues?

It's becoming a slippery slope.  People don't value life as much as they used to.

[Flipside]

Wow, you gotta do something bout the flux capacitor Goob!

[Liberator]

Originally posted by Goober5000


Convicted criminals: Check.
Unborn children: Check.
The disabled: Check.
Next up: The elderly.

I disagree.  The elderly are an easily manipulated voting bloc.  

@the value of life
I expect for one of the Major Networks to start airing Ultimate Fighting Championship any day now.

[Ford Prefect]

It's becoming a slippery slope. People don't value life as much as they used to.

Yes, because in past ages, people have treated each other with great empathy and kindness. Life was precious to the Mongolian hordes, and the Romans, and the Greeks who left babies on hilltops to be "taken by the gods", and don't forget the Inquisition. Oh the best has to be the Aztecs, who marched people by the hundreds into their sacrificial temples.

We value life when we know the people involved, and when we can afford to value it.

[Ace]

I'm sure he thinks the "good old days" are a little more decent, Ford.

Let's take for example the "colonization" of America, the French-Indian Wars, the Salem Witch Trials, the American Civil War (where people were being maimed instead of outright shot on purpose, and then shot instead of being taken prisoner by both sides), and the students and protestors killed during the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests.

But we're supposed to forget these things. Because America has always been a Good Christian Nation(tm) that has wholly obeyed the every whim of God's Given Bible(tm) except for this damn decadent age (post 1959). Minus the Holy Crusader Ronald Regan (god bless his pure soul!) and the Glorious Days of the Holy 1980s!