Terri Schaivo passed away :( What her legacy should be..

[john]

Forget the arguments, the moral issues, the fighting and demonizing.  I feel sorry for this woman who drew a very short straw out of life's lottery.  The truth is she had a poor quality of life, and would have passed away sooner than later regardless of the situation as it unfolded.  I think she had a right to live, but I clearly understand the other side and don't begrudge them that opinion at all.  Both have valid points and make sense.

I know that makes me look wishy washy, but in this circumstance I can't say for certain who is really right.  Both are I guess.

Anyway.  Let her legacy be that we all should realize that we should make our intentions clear to family and friends before something like this happens to us.  A living will is a good start, and a lawyer can draw up the paperwork for short money.  It could save those closest to you from struggling with the moral issues and trying to determine what you want done - and it keeps those who may know your intentions from going contrary to those wishes due to their own feelings.

So maybe in the end we learn something from this other than this was a big fight and legal mess.  That there was a real person at the heart of the matter, who was suffering and has suffered for years.  Had she made some arraingements, had a living will/health care proxy, there wouldn't have ever been any of this mess.

That's the lesson I learned anyway.

[Anonymous]

A living will does not guarantee your wishes will be carried out.  Of course it's better to have one.  But, relatives can STILL fight as they can over ANY will.

I personally would not want to be in her position and I have a living will stating that.  ALL my relatives know my wishes too.  I believe that I own "me" and I have the right to decide what is/is not to be done to/for me.

In cases where the wishes are known (REALLY known, not just hearsay from the husband/wife) the wishes should be followed.  Whether it's "keep me alive at all costs" or "nothing heroic" if we know for a fact what they want, then follow it.

BUT, where the wishes are NOT known for sure.  Should we not err on the side of life?  Isn't it murder to kill (and starving IS killing) an innocent, helpless person?

I agree with everything else you said.  It was very sad.

[Ed_in_Az]

 

[davipu]

ok, I think that it was sad that she had to die this way http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-31-schiavo_x.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno , reading this article, it whould seem to me that there was money involved and that was what started the fighting.  and it probably just esckalated from there.
 a right to live, sure but is living spending the next 40 years in a hospital shitting on your self?  how about a right to die with dignity?
acording to that article there was about a mil involved with the malpractice suit, so my question is how much does 15 years of health care cost?  I ask wondering how much of that was paid by the family and how much was paid through insurance.

and a final note, when I go splat in a firey crash I want to die. no life soupport. if I can't walk and talk I am done,  and i want my body burned in a old school funeral pyre.  it's going to be like one last bonfire I will be the center of the party, your all invited.  oh and I better see every one of you outside the hospital with bikes protesting to let me die.  I know my family will f%$k me over and try to keep me a vegtable.  so there it's on the internet, my last wishes.  now back to bikes

[conflicttheorist]

Maybe we can start a fund for the living, walking, thinking, talking humans who can't find a way to feed themselves.  Nevermind... we should fight to spend hundreds of thousands on white women who were once pretty and whose parents can't believe that their daughter is basically already gone.  I know it sounds rough, but as I speak another person dies at the hands of american apathy.

[Michael]

there was a real person at the heart of the matter, who was suffering and has suffered for years.  

I'm not sure about that.  I agree wholeheartedly with the rest of your sentiment, but suffering is a very personal thing, and two people in identical circumstances will experience different degrees of distress, "suffering".  My understanding of this case, and many others I have been involved in over the years, is that we are incapable of knowing how much, if any, suffering she was undergoing, but it probably wasn't much.

I think the issue of the living will is not so much for the benefit of the patient but for those who have to live on.  If it's all spelled out in black and white beforehand, it's a lot easier for them to accept that nature has spoken and just get on with life.

[cozy]

As always, South Park handled this issue well.
Starving someone to death is brutal, i wouldn't do that to an animal. Keeping a PVS alive for the parent's sake is wrong too. Congress, federal courts and the president getting involved - WRONG.  
All that time and money spent fighting could've been spent on stem cell research.