A federal judge in Tampa today again refused to order that Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube be reinserted, leaving the parents of the brain-damaged Florida woman with few legal options as they fight to keep her alive.
U.S. District Judge James Whittemore ruled that Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, “cannot establish a substantial likelihood of success on the merits’’ of their case. Schiavo’s parents filed notice that they’ll take the case to a federal appeals court in Atlanta that rejected their previous appeal.
update: 11th Circuit Court of Appeals again rules against the Schindler family.
All politics aside, assuming the parents are willing to pay for Terri’s care – which, I understand, they are – who is harmed by re-inserting the feeding tube and keeping her alive?
Just want to toss it out there and let you smart folks tackle it…
The answer is that Terri herself is harmed, if indeed it was her wish not to live in her current state. I don’t know Terri Schiavo’s wishes; but the Florida courts have concluded—based on their study of the evidence and testimony—that her wishes were that she would not.
Jesus wept.
I’ll exclude myself from being one of the smart folks; I really do not know who is harmed by re-inserting the feeding tube. Obviously some will argue “nobody is hurt” while others will argue the patient is harmed by such an intervention. However, my opinion, and I think this is confirmed by reading the comments from yesterday on this site, is that what everyone seems to want is a humane outcome. And very reasonable people disagree on just what constitutes a “humane” outcome to this tragic case.
But there sure are a lot of people out there in the blogosphere who know what torture is, isn’t there?
How is Abu Gharib any worse than killing an innocent by starvation?
not directed at you red state moron
That this case has been in the courts for this long is an indictment of the American legal system. Even at this point, nobody has sufficient information about the condition of her brain to make a reasoned decision.
Life is cheap in Florida.
No living will. We’re left with the law.
No living will. We’re left with the law.
That’s what scares me.
Let’s not hesitate to use loaded words like “starvation” (she’s not going to feel it; we’re projecting our own feelings onto her when we think she will).
Or, for that matter, “murder.”
How about “handicapped woman”? That’s one of my favorites.
Full disclosure: I would want my tube yanked. Well, actually I’d want a massive morphine OD to take me out quick, but I prolly wouldn’t be able to get that. That being said, I sure wouldn’t want to make that decision on ANYone else’s behalf, especially if the situation were as murky as this.
I wasn’t advocating either side, only trying to foment a bit o’ discussion on that particular facet. The fact that her wishes aren’t known is, to me, the most trying part of this.
Anti-spam word = light
Walk toward the light, Terri…
Well, Attila – all we know for sure is that we are not going to feel it. They give her pain relief when she has her period, and there are drugs on her medical “exit plan.” Apparently not everyone is not convinced that she will not feel it.
There’s torture, and then there’s torture. Which is worse: two weeks of dehydration, or fifteen years of ‘living’ in a profoundly damaged vessel? If it were me, the answer would be the latter. If my brain damage were profound enough that there was no “me” left, I’d not want to burden my family any longer. And if the brain damage were sufficient that there still was a “me,” but I had lost control of nearly all my faculties, I honestly believe it would be worse. Perhaps reading Flowers for Algernon in my youth affected me too deeply.
The prospect of death by dehydration is something I find horrifying, but for me it is more of an argument in favor of allowing a merciful and quick death than it is for continued force-feeding.
I know that my perspective isn’t shared by everyone, but I suspect it’s shared by many. Peggy Noonan probably won’t believe me, but I’m not a monster, and I’m not in love with death. I’m just terrified at the prospect of being forced to live in such a state indefinitely, because my loved ones cannot bear to let me go.
I think you mean “the former”.
To me, this is such an individual decision that no blanket statement can be made in either direction. While I would not want to persist in a vegetative state, I know that I would fight any and all comers to keep my wife or son with me, regardless of their state, as long as they had not specifically stated otherwise.
or I could actually read squid’s comment and see that he’s asking which is WORSE.
I do apologize. I suck.
Another way liberals could be persuaded to change positions and save Terri’s life:
Start calling her a fruit instead of a vegetable.
Turing: account, as in “Some people’s lives are of no account nowadays, it seems.”
Hey, a question for you guys.. a little tangented, but here goes anyway…
Supposed for a moment that Terri S. has lost all higher brain activity..has no consciousness.. only her brainstem is left to pump the heart, draw breath & blink eyes.. What happens to her soul?
I mean, does her soul move on to whatever comes after death or is it stuck there like a ghost or just stuck there unconsciously ? Just a thought.
Alpha,
Lloyd (my former host) has been brain dead for years. But luckily I transferred into his computer. So it appears to anyone passing by or dealing with him electronically that he is still productive. But then again I’m probably speaking for most of the poor souls whose bodies made it through the seventy’s.
Well Was-Lloyd, your situation sounds similar to my own but with a couple major differences. In my office there are hundreds of us that shamble in each day and dissappear into tiny 7×7’ cubicles. Once hidden from view we activate the computer AI to simulate human response, then fall into a fugue state for the following 9 hours. To the casual observer we appear living and productive though nothing ever actually gets done.. and e-mail and such is answered by the AI far more politely than any of us ever could. E-mails are usually just from some other bored AI anyway. The real miracle occurs when he clock strikes 5p and all of the fugue employees regain consciousness simultaneously and trot off with all the energy in the world.. as if theyve just awoken from a 9 hour nap..
Yeah, Rodger that Alpha. Lloyd’s wife has tried to disconnect his feeding tube (corona, tequila, etc.) many times, but so far the courts have held her back. If she ever suceeds I might have to transfer again. But I hear there’s a Virgin Apple down in Colorado ………. so it might not be to bad.
Sincerely,
Was-Lloyd (can I use that?)
Ya, of course you can Was-Lloyd, but you have to answer a question for me.. Do all computers have spirits in them ? I mean, my computer has been acting kind of weird lately.. It started with flies all over it.. later I saw red pig eyes on the screen after I turned the thing off.. then just the other day its started jabbering at me in French.. in French ! My ‘puter doesnt speak freakin French ! Then it spun its moniter all the way around and puked pea soup out of its CDR-W all over my new dockers…so what do you think, would the latest McAfee take care of this or should I be checkin the yellow pages for a good Excorcist ?
-Baboon Savant
Turing word: normal
Marcellus Wallace: No man.. I’m pretty F*cken’ far from normal…
Actually Alpha, all computers are capable of having disinfranchished souls in them, but not all do. Although there’s been a rumor floating around amongst us that Hunter S. Thompson was looking for a new home. Not sure if he landed in your computer, but it would explain a lot. I’m also very certain that McAfee won’t touch us. If it does happen to be Hunter, be afraid, be very very afraid.
Sincerely,
Was-Lloyd
Suppose you’re a good god-fearing person for the first thirty years of your life, then you suffer some king of brain trauma and become a serial sodomist over the next thirty years. And then you die, still the sodomist. Do you go to heaven at all? And if you do, are you the good, god-fearing version of yourself, or the sodomist?
Dudesucker:
Might you be thinking of this guy from the 19th century, who caught a metal rod between the eyes, and totally changed his personality? It was such a freaky occurance that, more than 150 years later, this prog band named itself after him.
Turing= stage, as in “Hey! What a coincidence!”
(Blew a great Turing the other day. I was so busy chuckling over the funny I made out of it that I forgot to enter it in the magic box. I lost the word and the post when I backspaced.)
I think I read someplace (probably in one of those Jehovahs Witnesses pamplets) that you’ll split your time between Heaven and Hell.. On ‘even’ days your God fearing self will hang out in Heavan and sing the praises of The Lord Thy God.. On ‘odd’ days your sodomist self gets to spend the day being gang-banged by a dozen horny leather devil tops , while you orally satisfy The Morningstar himself.. and worst of all, not one of the selfish bastards will give you a reach around.
Now this might not be 100% accurate.. it had to be translated and all.. but it WAS translated from Greek.. and those Greek boys do know their buttsex..
POEM FOR TERRI
I will never marry Terri,
For she is already wed.
But I’m hoping I can carry
Her metal coffin when she’s dead,
For to do so would please Jesus,
He who gives us breath and life.
He strives so very hard to please us!
Though she cannot be my wife,
We share a bond of Christian duty,
One transcending space and time.
No, I’ll never stroke her booty,
And she’ll never read this rhyme,
But in a year or two, or seven,
When my time on Earth has passed,
I’ll meet sweet Terri up in Heaven,
And I’ll kiss her face at last.
Copyright 2005 by Bibby Bibibbian. All rights reserved. This poem may be disseminated as long as it is not modified, and if I am given credit for its authorship. Praise Jesus Christ!