Poll....Terry Schiavo ......kept alive or allowed to die ??

[drdon326]

Poll question: Poll....Terry Schiavo ......kept alive or allowed to die ??

[drdon326]

1. BTW....i'm not sure. n/t

[JI7]

2. let the husband decide

[AP]

3. Exactly. Who are we to presume we know better than the person who knows

and loves this woman and to whom she told her wishes?

[mondo joe]

4. More importantly, the person SHE granted the right to speak on her

behalf in the event she could not.

[yurbud]

5. let husband and family duke it out--this isn't newsworthy

[PittLib]

13. It is very newsworthy ...

if only to reinforce the importance of a living will, regardless of age. This is a very personal issue, yet it effects us all if courts allow second parties to usurp the rights of someone legally considered as guardian. I find it scary that I could be kept "alive" against my own wishes and frankly am glad that it has been brought to light. I disagree with the political turn and feel there is much unnecessary exploitation, but there is a lot for us to learn in this.

[Quixote1818]

6. Since only 7% in NBC poll suggest they would want to live on life support

then I have to side with her husband first then if their is conflicting stories default to the probability of her chances of not wanting to live on life support which would be 93%. The burden should be proving she would want to live on life support.

[ima_sinnic]

10. oh, I so agree!!

The idea that without a so-called living will a person could be subjected to artificial life support and the cruelty of not being allowed to die when it's their time is absurd. Only those nutjobs who would WANT to rob resources from the living, be a bother to their loved ones, and be kept "alive" for no good reason should have to make living wills, and they should have the means--insurance or otherwise to pay for the extended care of their corpse.

[Quixote1818]

16. If congress does do a Bill I hope it reeds like your post but I am not

holding my breath. It will probably be the other way around. Sad but true.

[illflem]

7. So much for Demos being called "bleeding hearts"

[Quixote1818]

8. My heart does not bleed for a human toy any more than it would

if a Teddy Bear was taken off life support.

[soothsayer]

19. Exactly! The DU take on this floors me.

[Quixote1818]

20. The DU take on this is in step with most of the country. Just look

at the polls. 60% are with the husband and over 90% would not want to be kept alive if on life support. You are in the minority.

[amazona]

9. you can't keep her alive

She's dead, Jim. She has no cerebral cortex. You can keep the body from rotting too much and allow the hospital to continue drawing from Medicaid but you can't keep her alive because she isn't alive.

[Heyo]

11. I voted...

... I voted to let docs decide if there is hope..

Though in real life, I believe that has been done and the answer is no.

Heyo

[jdots]

12. This may be question with no answer

Does life create morals or morals create life ?Now throw some technology in there to clutter it all up.

[Cha]

14. THis interview with Michael Schiavo

on larry king is fascinating..

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0310/27/lkl.00.html

[Is It Fascism Yet]

33. Wow. Sheds a lot of light. n/t

[GoneOffShore]

15. Vegetative States

According to a medical ethicist at UofP, even though there are responses to stimuli by people in persistent vegatative states, those responses come from the autonomic nervous system - kind of like the twitching of a frogs' legs from galvonic stimuli.
Terry Schiavo died a long time ago.

[drdon326]

18. No recent pictures of her.....

her husband forbid any pics of her over past 2 years.

[SW FL Dem]

24. I ask you to consider why he did it

Her parents had already leaked EDITED videos of Terri that were designed to show her responding to stimuli, voices, balloons etc. The took over 4 hours of tape and edited it to a 15 minute "proof" that Terri responds.

[BuyingThyme]

17. None of our fucking business.

This is for the families and their doctors.

Lawyers and politicians and nosy-bodies should fuck off.

[Quixote1818]

22. Their always has to be someone scolding everyone for giving an opinion

Of course it's for the families and the doctors but what is wrong with a little poll to see where people fall? :nopity:

[BuyingThyme]

25. I'm responding to the poll question.

You are scolding.

Reality check.

[nonconformist]

21. I didn't vote, it's not up to me

I support what her husband and the law decide.

[Toucano]

23. Pull the tube.

If it's "God's plan" to heal her, she'll be healed.

I am fed up with people constantly trying to say the actions of men are God's will.

[evil_orange_cat]

26. thumbs down

the emperor has decided, not in her favor... :thumbsdown:

my god, brain dead for 15 years... move on people.

[cobaindrain]

27. keep the tube in

[donheld]

28. Let her die

They've put that woman and her husband through hell.

[Is It Fascism Yet]

29. It is inhumane to starve anything to death. If I were Terri, I would want

terminal sedation. They have no right to keep us alive against our will, and also no right to forbid us a more merciful death by terminal sedation.

[WillieWoohah]

30. I think her wish should be respected

However I don't think that a feeding tube is analogous to an artificial respirator or any other kind of machine used to keep someone alive in a vegetative state. Providing nourishment is not equivalent to keeping someone alive via medical intervention. Were it not for the fact that she had explicitly requested otherwise when she was still able-minded I would be against allowing her to die.

Also, why must she be starved to death? Why not euthanise her with an overdose of morphine?

[durablend]

36. "Why not euthanise her with an overdose of morphine?"

The doctor that did it wouldn't make it 50 feet out in the parking lot without being mobbed and savagely killed.

[LynnTheDem]

31. Just don't pay her hospital bill; then the hospital will pull the plug.

And that's fine with the rightwingnuts.

It's the FREEDOM OF CHOICE BY INDIVIDUAL AMERICANS that the rightwingnuts hate.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

32. Honestly, I'm not sure.

This question really hinges on three factors: Terri Schiavo's quality of life (is she really brain-dead?), her wish to die (was that really what she wanted?), and her husband's motives (he cheated on her, etc). If there is any life in her, starving her for two weeks is a cruel way to die. Michael Schiavo makes clear that it was Terri's wish to die with dignity. Is that really true? There needs to be a living will in cases like this.

The grandstanding and disgraceful political thuggery of DeLay and crew notwithstanding, if Terri Schiavo has life, and if it's not clear about her ultimate wish, then we do have a tough issue on our hands.

[drdon326]

34. I'm not sure either.

.

[China_cat]

35. Problem

She's not 'alive' in any real sense of the word to begin with.

[drdon326]

37. Everyone is so sure......

but me.