A Question Never Answered

Originally Posted by Tom57

Just because the "many" feel this way, does not automatically make it the right thing for Terri.

I have one simple question, in light of the fact that nobody can establish Terri's true wishes, what is the downside of allowing her to live?

JLV made a good point, but as I understand it, Terri's parents will support her through private donations, and in the event her parents outlive her, her siblings say they will take over.

Could somebody please explain to me why allowing her to die is a better choice given what we know?

 

Who is allowing her to die? We? How did this become our decision? Until recently we near everywhere took the very conservative and very religious position that the next of kin should decide.

I'm from "progressive" New York. In 1966 my father died of lung cancer. Though my parents had been for many years separated, it was my mother who called the shots while my father was in the hospital. They told my mother he was dying but did not tell him. They told my mother but not my father that he would be dead in a few months if left be. They told my mother but not my father he had a one-in-a-thousand chance of being cured with cobalt radiation treatments. Or those treatments would kill him. It was her choice and she chose the treatments and he soon died.

Mom was not asked what were her feelings towards dad and was not asked if she stood to profit financially from his quick death. That's just how things were done back in a more conservative age.

 

I have not yet commented on this post or this topic yet, mostly because I really honestly do not know how I would deal with a similar situation. There are pros and cons to both sides.

But, in my gut, in my heart, I just find myself feeling more and more appalled at Terry's slow death. Truly, what is the harm in keeping her alive? The intentional disconnection of her life support strikes me as wrong, and I agree with the original poster that the right question has not been asked nor answered. Showing compassion and mercy is good, and so far as we can tell, a living Terry was not in pain or suffering, so why the rush to pull the plug?

As far as her husband goes, well, I'm not going to cast any stones his way. I have no way of knowing his motivations, whether they are well-intentioned or selfish.

 

"Europeans See Issue As Strictly Medical"

Ahhhh, yes, it was bound to happen .......

....the unavoidable and probably pertinent comparisons between the USA and European nations (i.e western cultures/religio-medico-political realities) re: the Terri Schiavo "Life and Ethics" debate.

Reading this "news" item and several others like it in a couple of foreign sources, I am caught betwist the perplexing state of mind: whether to consider the perceived European "attitude" to the Schiavo case as "calm, reasonable judgements made in the context of health care's finite resources, rations, commoditization, etc." or as "shocking, flippant and non-chalant attitude to the sanctity of life."

To which some on both sides of the Atlantic would respond "what life?" or better yet "what quality of life?"

The debate and ethical struggles continues unabated ........

Thanks.

============
Per the "Washington Post," newspaper, Friday, April 1. 2005:

"Europeans See Issue As Strictly Medical

"By Keith B. Richburg
"Washington Post Foreign Service
"Friday, April 1, 2005; Page A12

"PARIS, March 31 -- In European countries that have struggled through their own end-of-life debates in recent years, the case of Terri Schiavo has sparked widespread interest and befuddlement at how politics and faith intervened in what most Europeans view as a strictly medical decision.

"In the Netherlands, where euthanasia has been legal since April 2002, the struggle over whether to remove Schiavo's feeding tube would not have happened because "here it's more accepted that the doctors make those decisions," said Rob Jonquiere, head of the pro-euthanasia group NVVE.

Read more, from the source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17001-2005Mar31.html

 

That´s absolutely true. It happens not only in Holland, but everywhere. I think Steve Forster (sorry if I am mistaken)explained that it happens in the US, too.