catapult magazine

As I wade thru the long “parents versus estranged husband” fight over the fate of disabled Terri Schiavo, the question above is the key issue today. Would YOU want to be starved? (And would you want an estranged spouse—who has found someone else—to shut out your parents, siblings & still decide your fate???)

As we speak, Terri dies of starvation and thirst. We are assured by…various sources that the death is painless.

But what if it is YOU lying there?

What if YOUR spouse/significant other has another woman/man? but still retains the legal guardianship right to make your life & death decisions?

There are some indications that Terri feels some pain—-it is said she gets some medication when her monthly cycle hits, for instance.

I saw a person who was actually in a kind of semi coma—-but he was responsive to our presence. I could tell by his movements which was confirmed by the comments of his mother, who cared for him at their home.

, I would not want to be continued on life support, but I thought (until a few weeks ago) that life support meant my heart or lungs were kept going by a machine.[/b:4163ee556b]

support now also means food & water…at least thru a tube. [/b:4163ee556b]

(Terri is said to have not wanted extreme life support.

Did she know she was talking about food & water & not just machines???)

I will inform my husband that I would NOT want to be starved to death. Also, tho I remain a confirmed Protestant, I would want him to consult the Catholic position on right to die issues, as they seem to think these things out well & thoroughly. If in doubt, they seem to “err” on the side of life.

I wonder what would happen if we did not feed death row inmates as they await appeal.

I am hastily rereading all the interesting comments to date on the Terri Schiavo starvation by death issue.

As my kids are fighting, I might have missed the one resposne to my question.
Would YOU choose to be starved to death???

My answer; NO.

But I see lots of other interesting issues…I see blame for Bush & cutting of funding, I see some saying a dignified death without the public looking on and making hypocritical comments
(oops—-didn’t happen for Jesus!)
and other comments…some of which are ducking the large elephant in the small room…
Why are we starving her to death? And would you want starvation to be done to yourself?

I suggest all treat this as a life or death issue as most of you would fall in one of two categories—It’s not merely some esoteric discussion where we can rail against some distant politician’s program of this or that….and back way off from the very new procedure of starving someone to get rid of them.

1. You are a child of a middle aged to older parent for whuch YOU might have to decide on their life or death in the coming years (i.e. the Boomers born from late 40’s to late 60’s).

2. You are possibly a Baby Boomer or older (born late 60’s or earlier) and you hope and PRAY your kids, your HOSPITAL, your friends will do the best for you!

I personally am going to read up on all the online court documents related to the Schiavo case that I can find online. Various pro and con websites have them. [size=24:e61bd6786f]This is a BIG biting cultural issue. Are we becoming a culture of death or not?[/size:e61bd6786f]
And how will it affect our decisionmaking on family/spouse in the coming years???

Am starting to read thru the pile of documents both sides filed.

I note that in the media, much play was given by most sources to the testimony of some of the Schiavo family that Terri would not want artificially to be kept alive…But what of these testimonies? Why not equal play?

since Judge Greer found them incredible to believe, why is he not having these people convicted for lying under oath?[/b:8bf26e3994]

http://www.terrisfight.org/documents/hlawaffidavit.htm
http://www.gnn.tv/blogs/5026/Affidavit_from_Schiavo_Nurse
http://www.hospicepatients.org/william-scott-russell-md-05-01-affidavit-re-terri-schiavo.html

I have to wonder some at the incredible picture these testimonies portray. They claim he had medical records altered when the CMAs recorded range of motion, & other medical signs as they are supposed to do. They are telling substantial lies…or perhaps the truth.

I hear now M. Schiavo will, when his wife is finally silenced forever, have an oautopsy of her cerebral cortex where we will probably learn that (yes) she is severely brain damaged. But I note that she is (per various media sources) tonite being given morphine for pain.

But wait… she was not to be starved as a Florida option unless she was in a persistent vegetative state. So why does she feel pain?

Am remembering some old Law & Order episode where they established that a woman was not fully brain dead when her organs were illegally and prematurely harvested because the record showed she had received a morphine drip. Don’t know if the show is medically accurate, but find the parallels here interesting…

This article addresses the Schiavo issue, but also gives details on the Futile Care movement & how it already has defined Dutch health care and how it may well define much of Us health care…
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/10/16/223430.shtml

Culture (of future health care practices, philosophies) is not optional. But what is that coming culture? Time to read up is now, before you must decide for, say, your parents
…or as in the case of the Schindlers, they must decide about you.

Watch also for the coming cerebral cortex debate. Is Terri the equivalent of a carrot or tomato with only reflex responses, or is she in somewhat of a conscious state?

Okay, vanlee, so give me your definitions of a culture of life and a culture of death. I hear these two phrases being flung around pretty loosely. And although they might fit nicely on a t-shirt, or a protest sign, I have yet to hear anyone actually flesh out what they mean.

a quick view of a [u:21d64604ea]full-fledged fully “ripe” culture of death[/u:21d64604ea][/b:21d64604ea] who is a “useless eater” (or…just unwanted) gets killed.[/b:21d64604ea] a culture of life, humans are more valuable than any other creatures (tho they should cherish & guard the garden known as Earth). Persons are valued for whom they are, not what they can produce.[/i:21d64604ea]

Any end-of-life decisions (i.e. turning off MECHANICAL life support) are made with a group of caring people who are advocates for the dying person. Persons who are brain damaged are cherished not starved.

And in a culture of life, you watch word meaning changes. You watch how your local hospital, insurance co. gov’t even decide on life. The REAL solution to the coming social security crisis (if our culture continues to morph into a culture of death) will likely be another FINAL SOLUTION.

Two interesting Internet phrase searches: “Useless Eater” and “Final Solution”. Also, the early history of Margaret Sanger (a major racist).