"It also seems clear to our family that Mr. Schiavo has neither the inclination to discuss the matter with our family – as we have proposed previously – nor the desire to move on with his own life with his new family," they contined, referring to Schiavo's two children with fiance Jodi Centonze, with whom he has been living for 10 years.
"After he has denied Terri therapy for so many years and denied our family any opportunity to help her, we can only come to the conclusion that he is not comfortable with the prospects of her regaining her abilities to speak and communicate to us the reasons for her condition."
Terri Schiavo collapsed under disputed circumstances in 1990, suffering severe brain damage when her heart stopped momentarily. Michael Schiavo attributes the collapse to an eating disorder, but the Schindlers suspect he tried to strangle their daughter and contend that while mentally handicapped, she recognizes people and responds to stimuli.
There are a lot of good points in this thread for reasons why so all I am going to say is I certainly hope some one would be kind enough to unplug me if I were in that state because I know I wouldn't want to live out my days like that.
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My father died in the comfort of his home peacefully, with his family around him, because we knew that's the way he wanted it.
If I had anybody trying to attach him to a machine to stay alive as a vegetable for 15 years, and putting him on national television, with the governor, congressmen and the president himself talking like they knew him personally and actually gave a shit about whether he lived or died, I would be outraged beyond words. And I'm sure that's exactly what her husband is going through right now.
Fuck everybody who wants to make a judgement about him, or his handling of the situation. Remember the "sacred trust" of marriage? She trusted him to make a decision about her life, and he knows better than anybody else on the planet what she would want -- likely better than even her parents know.
It makes me sick to hear everybody discussing this lady's life like it was just the next big water cooler chat for them to impose their opinions on. To hear some people talk, even if they feel differently than the Bushies on this subject, they would still want to be able to make the decision for her to die, after reviewing the husband's true feelings and motives, like it's some kind of made-for-tv drama mystery. Which I'm sure it will be soon.
werldhed wrote:She is an adult.
She made the decision to marry Michael.
She made the decision to hand power of attorney to him.
That trumps the "One point point for her mother's egg and her father's sperm argument."
As an adult she also has the right to make her own decisions about what quality of life means to her. Her parents can't legally force her to live in a cage if she doesn't want to, and they have no right to keep her on life support if her wishes are otherwise.
Because she married her husband and handed power of attorney to him in a case like this, he now does the thinking for her. Since he (presumably) knows that she does not want to live forever on life support (don't kid yourself or anyone else; she is never -- read: not fucking ever -- coming back to a state of sentient existence), he alone has the choice to let her pass on.
C'mon, this shit happens all the time. Usually, it's discussed with everyone involved and people realize what's in the patient's best interest. In this case, the parents are selfish fools who are grasping at straws. The only reason it's a big to-do is because we have the politiking god-squad in charge who, like the parents, believe in the word of the bible over the word of doctors, and possibly over the words of Teri herself.
werldhed wrote:She is an adult.
She made the decision to marry Michael.
She made the decision to hand power of attorney to him.
That trumps the "One point point for her mother's egg and her father's sperm argument."
As an adult she also has the right to make her own decisions about what quality of life means to her. Her parents can't legally force her to live in a cage if she doesn't want to, and they have no right to keep her on life support if her wishes are otherwise.
Because she married her husband and handed power of attorney to him in a case like this, he now does the thinking for her. Since he (presumably) knows that she does not want to live forever on life support (don't kid yourself or anyone else; she is never -- read: not fucking ever -- coming back to a state of sentient existence), he alone has the choice to let her pass on.
C'mon, this shit happens all the time. Usually, it's discussed with everyone involved and people realize what's in the patient's best interest. In this case, the parents are selfish fools who are grasping at straws. The only reason it's a big to-do is because we have the politiking god-squad in charge who, like the parents, believe in the word of the bible over the word of doctors, and possibly over the words of Teri herself.
If this was cut and dry as you state, I'd wholly agree. But there's been some conjecture otherwise to both the exact nature of her condition and the husband's dubious intentions with the money left. If it were just the parents' religious dogma the basis of keeping her alive, I'd say pull the plug too.
werldhed wrote:She is an adult.
She made the decision to marry Michael.
She made the decision to hand power of attorney to him.
That trumps the "One point point for her mother's egg and her father's sperm argument."
As an adult she also has the right to make her own decisions about what quality of life means to her. Her parents can't legally force her to live in a cage if she doesn't want to, and they have no right to keep her on life support if her wishes are otherwise.
Because she married her husband and handed power of attorney to him in a case like this, he now does the thinking for her. Since he (presumably) knows that she does not want to live forever on life support (don't kid yourself or anyone else; she is never -- read: not fucking ever -- coming back to a state of sentient existence), he alone has the choice to let her pass on.
C'mon, this shit happens all the time. Usually, it's discussed with everyone involved and people realize what's in the patient's best interest. In this case, the parents are selfish fools who are grasping at straws. The only reason it's a big to-do is because we have the politiking god-squad in charge who, like the parents, believe in the word of the bible over the word of doctors, and possibly over the words of Teri herself.
Bingo. I'd like to hire you to eloquently translate my befuddled thoughts into words :icon25:
werldhed wrote:She is an adult.
She made the decision to marry Michael.
She made the decision to hand power of attorney to him.
That trumps the "One point point for her mother's egg and her father's sperm argument."
As an adult she also has the right to make her own decisions about what quality of life means to her. Her parents can't legally force her to live in a cage if she doesn't want to, and they have no right to keep her on life support if her wishes are otherwise.
Because she married her husband and handed power of attorney to him in a case like this, he now does the thinking for her. Since he (presumably) knows that she does not want to live forever on life support (don't kid yourself or anyone else; she is never -- read: not fucking ever -- coming back to a state of sentient existence), he alone has the choice to let her pass on.
C'mon, this shit happens all the time. Usually, it's discussed with everyone involved and people realize what's in the patient's best interest. In this case, the parents are selfish fools who are grasping at straws. The only reason it's a big to-do is because we have the politiking god-squad in charge who, like the parents, believe in the word of the bible over the word of doctors, and possibly over the words of Teri herself.
If this was cut and dry as you state, I'd wholly agree. But there's been some conjecture otherwise to both the exact nature of her condition and the husband's dubious intentions with the money left. If it were just the parents' religious dogma the basis of keeping her alive, I'd say pull the plug too.
It'll be a moot point soon anyway.
I'm not fully familiar with the case prior to this carnival litigation, but my understanding is that Michael did not seek to remove Terri from life support until a number of years of attempted rehabilitation had failed to improve her condition. When it became obvious that she was not going to improve, then he decided it was time to fulfill her wishes. Also, I believe that the money awarded for the malpractice suit is controlled for her care -- he would not be able to keep it for himself if she dies. I could be quite wrong about this though.
I also don't see where there is controversy in her condition. Again, I'm not personally involved in her case, but she is not aware of her surroundings and it's not possible for her to return to that state.
I might feel differently if she hadn't expressly stated her wish not to live on as a vegetable. According to her husband at least. And Miachael Schiavo waited five or six years before petitioning to have his wife taken off life support. Every single doctor that's examined her has come to the same conclusion, she's brain dead. It sucks, and the way she's going to die isn't the quickest, but I think that if that's what she said she wanted, then there's no damn argument.
What really pisses me off is all the fucking asshole christian right-to-lifers that think they have some inalienable right to poke their fucking noses into other people's business.
Fender wrote:I'd say him turning down $1M to give up guardianship pretty much clears up any doubts about him doing this for money.
As I understood the news report I saw a few nights ago, the one million was from the malpractice suit and he's used over 50k of it all ready to keep her alive. The conjecture comes that there's some suspicion that he's wanting her to kick off soon so he can keep whatever's left.
I'm mostly skeptical about everybody's motives in this thing.
I'm not fully familiar with the case prior to this carnival litigation, but my understanding is that Michael did not seek to remove Terri from life support until a number of years of attempted rehabilitation had failed to improve her condition. When it became obvious that she was not going to improve, then he decided it was time to fulfill her wishes. Also, I believe that the money awarded for the malpractice suit is controlled for her care -- he would not be able to keep it for himself if she dies. I could be quite wrong about this though.
I also don't see where there is controversy in her condition. Again, I'm not personally involved in her case, but she is not aware of her surroundings and it's not possible for her to return to that state.
It's a power struggle, that's what it boils down to IMO. If she died, I think he gets the money. At least that's how it sounded on the news a couple nights ago when they were covering that vigil in Atlanta.
