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Suicide & Euthenasia - Who's rights? (1 Viewer)

C

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Today in Florida, the court ruled that the feeding tube supporting the life of Terri Schiavo shall be removed as requested by her husband. Ms Schiavo who suffered a massive heart attack in 1990 resulting in catastrophic brain damage, leaving her in a persistent vegetative state. Ms. Schiavo did not leave a "Living Will" to offer her wishes in this type of situation. He husband, as her legal guardian, insisted that she did not wish to live in this manner and is merely carrying out her wishes. Her parents disagree and have been fighting vigorously to keep her alive in the hope she will one day recover, despite opinions from medical experts that this will never happen. GOP members of Congress attempted to stay the judges decision but failed.

The questions are: Who has the right to determine the our fate? Why does the government feel they have the right to intervene in the decision making process of these devistated families? If you wanted to commit suicide because you were filled with cancer... why is this a "crime" under our justice system? Is it not your body to do with as you wish?
 
Contrarian said:
Today in Florida, the court ruled that the feeding tube supporting the life of Terri Schiavo shall be removed as requested by her husband. Ms Schiavo who suffered a massive heart attack in 1990 resulting in catastrophic brain damage, leaving her in a persistent vegetative state. Ms. Schiavo did not leave a "Living Will" to offer her wishes in this type of situation. He husband, as her legal guardian, insisted that she did not wish to live in this manner and is merely carrying out her wishes. Her parents disagree and have been fighting vigorously to keep her alive in the hope she will one day recover, despite opinions from medical experts that this will never happen. GOP members of Congress attempted to stay the judges decision but failed.

The questions are: Who has the right to determine the our fate? Why does the government feel they have the right to intervene in the decision making process of these devistated families? If you wanted to commit suicide because you were filled with cancer... why is this a "crime" under our justice system? Is it not your body to do with as you wish?
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It is truly sad that some have criticized the husband's decision. This is the man she chose to marry and, as some would say, she gave her life to him. Since she can't think, we should give him the choice. He seems to be thinking more clearly than the woman's parents, however. Also, this man has been taking care of her for 15 years. Isn't it time he gets his freedom, and isn't it time Terri gets her right to die, rather than continuing to be a sideshow and topic of conversation for pro-lifers?
 
anomaly said:
It is truly sad that some have criticized the husband's decision. This is the man she chose to marry and, as some would say, she gave her life to him. Since she can't think, we should give him the choice. He seems to be thinking more clearly than the woman's parents, however. Also, this man has been taking care of her for 15 years. Isn't it time he gets his freedom, and isn't it time Terri gets her right to die, rather than continuing to be a sideshow and topic of conversation for pro-lifers?
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I agree with what you say. He has the right to decide, not the government.
 
Welcome to the debates IndependentTexas! It seems quite unusual to see those two words together these days. I hope you enjoy yourself.

Back to the topic:

The really repulsive thing here was reading the GOP "Talking Points" that was distributed to the Republican Congressmen in an effort to politicize the misery of this poor family. It became an extension of the rants of the pro-lifers in an attempt to position themselves (the GOP) as THE moral authority in this country. The irony of this is that the Republicans have traditionally been for small government, less government intrusion and states rights. So why did DeLay and the rest of the gang see fit to issue subpoenas of questionable legalality to investigate something completely out of their jurisdiction?

The answer: To take advantage of this tragedy. HAve they no shame?
 
We all have to remember she is being starved to death, not just taken off of a machine that is pumping her heart. She is going to feel physically staved, this is sick. Besides, her husband has another woman, he just wants to move on. Another thing is that her doctors said she can recover, so why are we killing this woman again?
 
JETeachout said:
We all have to remember she is being starved to death, not just taken off of a machine that is pumping her heart. She is going to feel physically staved, this is sick. Besides, her husband has another woman, he just wants to move on. Another thing is that her doctors said she can recover, so why are we killing this woman again?
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Welcome to Debate Politics!
 
JETeachout said:
We all have to remember she is being starved to death, not just taken off of a machine that is pumping her heart. She is going to feel physically staved, this is sick. Besides, her husband has another woman, he just wants to move on. Another thing is that her doctors said she can recover, so why are we killing this woman again?
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Welcome to the debate!

First, the doctors have shown that this poor woman does not have any cognative brain function. Her MRI shows no brain mass... it's gone. Multiple neurologists have testified saying that her reflexive responses to stimuli came from the brain stem (no thought, reason etc).

While you or I may have emotional reactions to this, the fact is, it is #1, a family matter and #2 - a matter for state law, not the Federal government. While you may think the husbands motive is to get rid of his wife, the reality is he could have turned over legal guardianship to her parents. As her husband, he claims to be acting on her wishes. It seems logical that if he just wanted to move on to the "other woman", he would not have spent the tens of thousands of dollars in legal and medical bills to act on her wishes. He'd wash his hands of it, and move on.

As for the fact that she is not on a respirator etc... I don't know the answer. I would tend to agree with you. I would not be able to do what he is doing, but then again I haven't lived his horror. It would seem more humane if a panel of doctors (3 to 5?) were conviened to give opinions as to her ability to recover. This is where doctor assisted suicide needs to be considered.

My problem is letting the government come into our homes and tell us how we must deal with family tragedy. If Bush feels we can do a better job managing our own Social Security why doesn't he feel that families are capable in dealing with their own deaths?
 
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