Michael Schiavo's a good dude

[Dead]

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Maybe we should quit sending food to nursing homes too. I mean, you think they're actually enjoying their lives?

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Let's be honest here though EarlCat.

The Republicans are being disingenuous when they say that there is a chance that Terri will ever be able to communicate again. Her cerebral cortex is mostly gone!

I agree that she shouldn't be murdered, but some people in Congress are clearly misrepresenting the facts.

And, imo, no will=no kill.

[Broken Glass Can]

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And, imo, no will=no kill.

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I agree. We should only kill unborn babies after they have given their consent in a living will. Otherwise, no will=no kill.

[Bigdaddydvo]

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I agree. We should only kill unborn babies after they have given their consent in a living will. Otherwise, no will=no kill.


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Classic. Choose Life!

[pistolwhipped]

“This mentality arbitrarily assigns a subjective value to "quality of life," and holds that any individual falling below that threshhold no longer deserves to live. Our world places an inordinate emphasis on youth, beauty, and vigor, and is hurredly dismissive of a woman in Terri's position. The unsaid buttress that supports the "quality of life" argument is the concept of "inconvienence to the healthy." (Geez, grandma, don't you know what a royal pain in the ass your deteriorating hip is? Having to help you wipe your rear end is really cramping my style. Your life just isn't worth living any more...maybe we should do something about it) Allowing Terri to die could precipitate many instances where perfectly healthy folks are determining the fate of those with a range of physical and mental maladies. My question is: At what point does this stop? It may be hyperbolic to compare Terri to my 10-month old, but it is not unimaginable to envision many physically afficted people IN FAR BETTER SHAPE THAN TERRI having their right to life denied because some committee doesn't think their life is worth living any more. I regret employing the "slippery slope" axiom, but killing Terri puts us in that exact position.”

This mentality does not suggest that if an individual falls below a certain threshold that he/she must die. It’s foolish to assume that from my prior statement. I simply said this woman isn’t enjoying her life. I did not say anyone who doesn’t enjoy his or her life must die.

If that were true I’m sure – according to me there would be mass executions/suicides across the world. People in third world countries, people living a meager existing living paycheck to paycheck while working at some deadened job, people suffering emotional distress, etc…

Perhaps I need to clarify my statement. The concept of “quality of life” is something that can be easily understood, however, there is a deeper understanding to it. Terri Schiavo’s life is not going to progress into anything remotely resembling what it was before her sudden illness. To put it slightly, there is no hope. If you are saying it’s justified to let someone who has no mental capabilities to make decisions for themselves live a life that isn’t what they would MORE THAN LIKELY appreciate, well that’s just horrible.

I can think of all sorts of situations that may be similar but are clearly different. Think of a limbless individual, a person condemned to a wheelchair for the rest of their life, etc… Of course their quality of life isn’t going to be what it was once assuming they weren’t born that way, however, they still possess mental capabilities and although need assistance to live are clearly cognizant of what is going on in their life. This is not the case for Terri, she is just stuck inside that body with what amounts to no hope barring some sort of miracle that hasn’t occurred in the past fifteen years and isn’t likely to happen period. IMO it’s just horrible to let someone stagnate away in a hospice center. Do you think anything other than stagnating will occur? People will visit her, family and friends and they’ll try to communicate and they’ll also assume anything she does is a result of them being there. In situations like this people often look for any hint of understanding to make themselves feel better – hope is sometimes an abused feeling.

I agree that today’s world does place emphasis on youth, beauty and vigor, however, that has nothing to do with Terri Schiavo. We aren’t saying kill her b/c she’s ugly, we are saying kill her because she has no reasoning ability and can’t make decisions in her life.

Again, your argument about grandma’s lip and people who are unhealthy is just not applicable to Terri’s case. These people can function, not necessarily fully where they do need help to as you say “wipe their ass”, etc. They are far better off than Terri is and they have a lot to live for. At this point the only thing Terri has to live for is her family and friends, and Congress. I would always say she has herself to live for, however, in this situation I don’t think that’s applicable here.

Another point that perhaps could solve confusion in this case, if only it were made legally easier would be that once an individual reaches the legal age to operate an automobile in his/her jurisdiction (surely by that time they have a fine concept on life and death) - if only there was a way to couple getting a drivers license along with filing a living will, problems like this wouldn’t be so bad.

In the end life is worth living, but not in all cases. IMO I think that this woman is suffering and there isn’t a thing she can do about it. That is the main difference between her and any other individual. I just think it’s unfair to her to assume that life is what she wants. You cannot just preach on about pro-life b/c some situations provide anomalies. Certainly hers is one of them.

[Dead]

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And, imo, no will=no kill.

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I agree. We should only kill unborn babies after they have given their consent in a living will. Otherwise, no will=no kill.

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Fetuses can't make wills.

[slickpoppa]

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And, imo, no will=no kill.

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I agree. We should only kill unborn babies after they have given their consent in a living will. Otherwise, no will=no kill.

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Fetuses can't make wills.

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Dead, I don't understand how you can make the distinction between Schiavo and fetuses. Both are essentially hooked up to feeding tubes, but it is likely that many aborted fetuses actually have more sentience than Mrs. Schiavo.

[Broken Glass Can]

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And, imo, no will=no kill.

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I agree. We should only kill unborn babies after they have given their consent in a living will. Otherwise, no will=no kill.

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Fetuses can't make wills.

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Neither can Terri.

[Dead]

I know. And she didn't make one before she died. That's why she shouldn't be killed. We don't know what she would have wanted.

[EarlCat]

Fetuses have more to look forward to than Terri. It's hard to fathom that their lives are any less precious.

James Taranto's column in the Wall Street Journal was clever to point out how the AP worded the story of the woman who killed the pregnant woman. The AP said that she killed the woman, cut the fetus out of her stomach, and ran off with the baby--to which Taranto asked, "But what did she do with the fetus?"