terry schiavo.since everybody and their mother has had an expressed opinion on the case, i'll offer mine, albeit unfashionably late.
i think intentionally starving anything living, vegetative state or not, to death, is an infinitely cruel way to end the life.
i don't care how you make your feeble attempts to justify it.
let us imagine, for instance, i have filthy vermin, namely mice, plaguing my residence. i set up trigger traps for the mice, and i catch one. the mouse doesn''t die , though. rather, it has been incapacitated to the point that it cannot feed itself.
i could not sit there and watch the mouse starve to death over the next few days.
granted, i wouldn't try to keep it alive either. i'd rather end it's life swiftly, so that neither of us has to suffer.
now, i ask my audience, how many of you folks would opt to starve the mouse to death?
particularly those who "understand" mrs. schiavo's husband' s choice?
i ask you , friend, to compare and contrast the two situations, and tell me how starving mrs.. schiavo to death was any more humane than allowing an injured mouse to starve to death?
furthermore, i think it important to recognize the difference between a feeding tube, and a complete life support system.
from wikipedia.now, theoretically speaking, with the correct components in place, you could keep nearly anything alive.
let us not confuse
LIFE SUPPORT with a
FEEDING TUBE.
the two are not interchangeable. mrs. schiavo was being fed through a gastric feeding tube.
life support is not the same as a gastric feeding tube.
discontinuing life support means a swift death for the patient.
also from wikipedia:
A gastric feeding tube, or "G-tube", is a tube inserted through a small incision in the abdomen into the stomach and is used for long-term enteral nutrition. The most common type is the percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. It is placed endoscopically: the patient is sedated, and an endoscope is passed through the mouth and esophagus into the stomach. The position of the endoscope can be visualized on the outside of the patient's abdomen because it contains a powerful light source. A needle is inserted through the abdomen, visualized within the stomach by the endoscope, and a suture passed through the needle is grasped by the endoscope and pulled up through the esophagus. The suture is then tied to the PEG tube, and pulled back down through the esophagus, stomach, and abdominal wall. The insertion takes about 20 minutes. The tube is also occasionally placed surgically. After the insertion, the abdominal wound must covered with sterile dressings until it is healed (about a week). The tube is kept within the stomach by a balloon on its tip (which can be deflated to remove the tube). Gastric tubes are suitable for long-term use: they last about six months, and can be replaced through an existing passage without an additional endoscopic procedure. The G-tube is useful where there is difficulty with swallowing because of neurologic or anatomic disorders (stroke, esophageal atresia, tracheoesophageal fistula), and to avoid the risk of aspiration pneumonia. It is also used when patients are malnourished and cannot take enough food by mouth to maintain their weight.
my uncle spent a few months on a feeding tube. granted, this isn't comparable to a 15 year ordeal, but the fact remains. if her state hasn't changed from 15 years ago until now... whywas having her placed on the feeding tube feasible 15 years ago?
all things considered, let us examine the final outcome.
On March 18, 2005, her gastric feeding tube was removed under court order. Terri Schiavo died of dehydration on March 31, 2005, at around 9:05 a.m. EST (13:05 UTC), after thirteen days without food or water.
now, wtf.
13 days?
in my opinion, that doesn't even qualify as euthanasia.
- The act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment.
the death wasn't remotely immediate.
her body failed as a result of being deprived of water and nutrients. dehydration. 13 days. i doubt i would last 13 days without water. and, by popular opinion, i'm more of a human than mrs. schiavo was.
impressive.
common statements ive seen tossed around like a raggedy tennis ball on your average innercity block, is that terri schiavo was "no more alive than a potato", or that she was "dead already".
i wish the armchair doctors and the knownothing knowitalls would stand to the side. and shut up while they are at it.
it's a grand assumption to make, that this woman has been, for all intents and purposes, dead for the past 15 years.
if the woman was totally dependent on her feeding tube, and absolutely and totally helpless with out that assist, braindead and lifeless, she should have died immediately after the feeding tube was removed. that she stayed alive speaks to the fact that her brain was still able to control all the processes to fight to keep her alive.
i wonder. if by some freak occurence, mrs. schiavo was pronounced to be in a persistent vegetative state, although being ONLY able to feed herself- if the clamor to discontinue all other care for her would be nearly as raucous.
it reminds me of the time period where mentally challenged people were almost immediately and invariably given up on, often consigned to "mental institutions" or even worse, god forbid, put to death.
...oh the horror.
i wonder, if in the last few days of her life, mrs. schiavo possessed the same blank look on her face, as was often broadcast during the heat of the trials, or if it was wrenched in angst, simply because her body- not her mind- felt itself dying.
ah but what do i know.
im just a conservative bible thumper who cant see forests for trees.
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April 29, 2005
