"That's not living. That's being kept alive."

"The political grandstanding going on in the Schiavo case is sickening," writes Michele of A Small Victory, and we totally agree.  She has so much more to add to the discussion, things we've have had in mind but not yet articulated here:

Fifteen years of not being able to feed yourself, think for yourself, form a verbal thought, get dressed, tell anyone where it hurts, plead for medication, read a book, sit at a family dinner . . . that's not living. That's being kept alive. There is a difference, in my mind.

Obviously, I'm not a medical expert. This is all my own opinion. But I tend to think that even if Terri is cognizant of any of her surroundings at all (which is something I find rather unlikely), she can't be too happy at being who and what she is. Is that a way you would want to live? For fifteen years? Would you want to be trapped inside a useless body all that time, watching events unfold around you, knowing that you are a financial and emotional burden to those you love, that your parents and immediate family have lived every minute of the last fifteen years fighting to keep you in this vegetative state? Personally -- again, my opinion -- I would want to be dead, buried and a memory.

As we've noted here early and often, this great human tragedy is grist for every opinion writer's and blogger's mill.

Comments

[Teresa]

Well, I tend to feel as Michele does in regard to myself. No, I would not want to live in that manner - I've even taken care of people in that state in nursing homes. If these pictures were of me, I'd be thinking in my head... shoot me now please and get it over with! But where I diverge from most people who feel this way is that I can't bring myself to impose my beliefs on everyone else.

I have known people - many of them - over the years, who are of the opinion "where there is life, there is hope". Their feeling is - do everything you can for me and one day - a miracle may happen. They truly believe that life itself is the most precious thing you have and if it means you live this life as Terri is doing now - then so be it.

Is that belief any better or worse than mine? I don't think so, even though I don't agree with it and it doesn't work for me. That's what makes Terri's case so very difficult. We don't know how she really felt about this matter. We know how her parents feel, how the husband feels, and just about everyone else on the planet... except for Terri herself - and she can't tell us. And that's why this is an impossible decision to make.

[syn]

From my personal experience, if you are diagnosed with a terminal disease and the doctors find out you have a living will, the doctors are so eager to accomodate your quick death. Once they know you have signed a document that you do not want treatment if left in a terminal 'hopeless' situation, they will convince you that there is nothing left for them to do, no hope of recovery and that a 'feel-good mercy killing drug' is the ticket out of suffering.

[BS]

This entire argument is MOOT because Michael Schaivo would not allow any rehabilitative treatment to take place. Terri's parents (and others) think that if attempts were made to rehabilitate her, she could perhaps live a life that SHE (Terri) deems worth living. And secondly, that Terri is loved so deeply and with so much energy is reason enough to live!

[dora lane]

Re: Texas Futile Care Law, Liar, Terri S. is not on life support.

I have a 31-year old profoundly brain-damaged daughter. She cannot care for herself, nor speak more than 10 words. She wouldn't be able to answer the question "do you like your life" because she has no concept of the word "life." She can eat and drink by herself, but if left alone could not FIND food. So. Should we just stop giving her food and drink? What the hell...she is a bother, and certainly useless, and Medicaid costs us all a bundle. Sure, that's the ticket, let's KILL her! And unlike Scott Petersen, who gets a humane death, let's drag it out and torture her too. My Lord, man, I hope YOU never become disabled.

[LARS]

Hey LIARS - those of us who read conservative blogs have kicked around the same issues, 'cept we all don't just talk from the same sheet of paper. We go back and forth and hit both sides, and feel like we get somewhere, even if we still disagree at the end and/or the side we support ends a few votes short. Get off your high and mighty horse, you arse. If you care about Terri, say so (& maybe even do something!), cuz all your bitchin' and moanin' about a bunch programs makes me think this is just some political grandstanding on YOUR part!

MU

[Stephen M. St. Onge]

      I find this willingness to decide things for Terri Schiavo positively astounding.

      It seems to me that the obvious procedure in a case like this ought to be to appoint a lawyer to represent Terri's interests.  That lawyer would have her examined by doctors who didn't walk into the room with a diagnosis in their pocket.  Rehabilitation might be tried, with records kept of the results.  When all that was done, we'd have some rational basis for discussing whether Terri Schiavo had any awareness left, and what if anything she wanted.

      As it is, we are about to let the State of Florida kill a woman because her unfaithful husband with a financial stake in her demise says she would want to die.  The medical, legal, and moral implications are far-reaching, the history of what happens when government is allowed to decide whose life has value is terrifying, but huge numbers of people seem ready to charge ahead without thought.

      If I'd encountered this in fiction, I wouldn't have believed it.  For the love of God, people, move slowly and carefully, and get the facts, before you do anything irreversible.

THE SAUDS MUST BE DESTROYED!

[George]

If you "wouldn't want to live like that", that's your business, but there are a lot of severely handicapped people who live perfectly happy lives.

Let me ask you this - if you were talking about a person with a grotesquely large nose, would you be so quick to say you "would kill yourself with a nose like that" around someone with a large nose?

[George]

BTW, congratulations on being above making this "grist" for your blog.

[Mark Marshall]

Michelle has a disgusting take on the matter considering she appears to be so ill informed. Read Patterico, and see if you find the supposed affidavits credible. The nurses who filed them couldn't have been allowed to present this testimony in court, because if they had and the judges still pronounced death upon Terri - then they are little more than ghouls. Considering the intentional lies and distortions being propogated by the likes of NPR (via Kaus) ghouls may be too kind in description of her executioners. May they all burn in hell.

[jon jimmie]

A feeding tube does not keep someone alive, it just helps maintain comfort. Thus removing the tube incurs a death slower/nastier than those receiving state murder in the USA. It is cruel and unusual punishment. The woman has not been adequately assessed - the husband refuses the obvious test of MRI. Apparently he only found he could read her mind about her preferences after he had shacked up with the mother of his two young children. The award for care of Terri is missing. And libertarians are more interested in their principles of freedom than Terri's distress.
A sorry mess.

[andophiroxia]

I just don't understand Michael Schaivo's position. Her parents have offered him that he could keep the money that he won in the settlement, grant him the divorce, and not pursue any further legal aggrievances. Yet he refuses. He's very adamant of having her feeding tube pulled. Is he trying to keep something from the world?

Plus, this is awful. We kill criminals much more humanely than this.