Terri Schiavo.
This is a tragic case.
Here’s what I said about it in 2003, and I feel the same way today.
Update: Thanks to Randy and Enlighten for letting me know that the link was screwed up. I think it’s better now.
March 20, 2005
8 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Your link for your 2003 post takes you to a a “null” email address.
Comment by Emlighten-NewJersey — March 20, 2005 @ 9:58 pm
I’m with you on this one. Plus, I have a huge problem with the fact that she wasn’t appointed an ad litem AND an attorney to represent her in any of the legal proceedings. That may be legal in Florida, but it ain’t right. Maybe I’m biased because of my years as an ad litem, but IMO no one person can both represent a person’s interests and judge what’s in that person’s best interests.
Comment by rita — March 21, 2005 @ 8:46 am
As I said over at JerseyStyle!, I don’t think there are momentous legal or constitutional issues at stake here; this is a fight over the ethical consensus we’re taking into the new century. And there’s three facts that make it an issue worth fighting: she’s not brain dead, she’s in no danger of dying with minimal care and the person making decisions for her has evident conflicts of interest.
Comment by Sluggo — March 21, 2005 @ 2:38 pm
I’m with the rest of you. I’ve been following this case since the beginning, and it makes me sad that the woman didn’t express her intent (one way or the other) to anyone else. Since she didn’t, I doubt her husband’s word. Maybe she said once or twice that she wouldn’t want to live that way, but under what circumstances? I’ve given my loved ones very specific instructions about what to do with me in this situation. In these times, when it’s possible to live years in this state (or worse) you have to make it clear what your wishes are. And if your wishes aren’t known? The worst option is pulling the plug (tube) on someone who might not want that. Letting her dehydrate to death is torture.
Comment by Shamrock — March 21, 2005 @ 8:30 pm
The worst option is pulling the plug (tube) on someone who might not want that. Letting her dehydrate to death is torture.
Posted by Shamrock at March 21, 2005 08:30 PM
***********************************************
Here is a description of what this woman will endure.
“People who die of starvation, their acid eats through their stomach, they develop infections in their body, their body starts to dissolve from the inside out, they develop seizures, [and] frequently it breaks their back,” he said. “They have to have medications to essentially put them into a coma to not have their body break their back or something of that nature.”
This is NOT pulling the plug and allowing someone to die with dignity
Comment by Dan Kauffman — March 21, 2005 @ 10:12 pm
I work not far from the hospice and have lived in the area for almost 6 years now. Based on things I have heard from local talk shows, to include interviews with family members, George Felos, etc, etc, etc, I posted my comments and analysis, which I began writing shortly after the late afternoon press conference on 3/18/2005.
Pretty sad, but the legal issues are really important, if we don’t want to see the “burdensome” people being executed wholesale….
Comment by Curt — March 22, 2005 @ 11:13 am
It’s a case, and a situation, that will live long after Ms. Schiavo has passed on.
It seems that in this case, the judicial system’s sticking to the ‘rule of law’ is protecting everyone but the victim.
Comment by jmflynny — March 22, 2005 @ 10:52 pm
Matt Conigliaro over at Abstract Appeal has been keeping up with (and appears to be completely unbiased).
For what appears to be an unbiased report on the entire matter, I would humbly suggest that you (and Rita) take a look at the Wolfson Report (the appointed GAL after the Florida State Legislature passed “Terri’s Law” in 2003).
There is so much misinformation, innuendo and rumor going around, (the GAL refers to it in his report as “toxic cloud”) I rely on Matt’s posts and his posting of the court docs to keep me up-to-date.
As for my opinion, I’m not a member of Terri Schiavo’s family, so I refuse to comment any longer.
The way I see it, the legal ramifications of all of this brou-ha-ha will be with us LONG AFTER Terri is gone. It’s a lose-lose situation to my way of thinking.
Comment by Margi — March 26, 2005 @ 6:04 pm