Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to If you starved a dog to death, you'd go to jail

And if you had a dog that was permanently crippled...
R.L. — (archived)

Unable to walk, or even eat on its own. Kept alive by pumping food into it through a hole in its belly. Only capable of just laying there twitching. What would you do? What if you took the poor creature to one veterenarian after another and they all assured you that it was impossible for the poor thing to ever make improvement. It would continue life hooked up to a feeding tube- just laying there.

Admit it- at some point you would realize that the kind and compassionate thing to do is to put the poor thing to sleep. The dog never could tell several people before hand that it didnt want to be kept alive with extreme methods, like Terri did. You would put the poor thing to sleep, and know you were doing the kindest thing.

Terri has no cereberal cortex. That isnt going to change- ever. Everything that made her a conscious human being is gone. Several people have come forward saying that being ket alive like this was against Terri's previously expressed wishes. Over and Over again the courts have agreed. If we were truly compassionate we would have allowed her to have a quick and painless death (Turning your own analogy back on you, Why do we not afford her the same kindness we afford to dogs?).

If there was evidence that Terri wanted to be kept alive by any means required I would disagree with her choice, but I would respect it and I would be arguing that we should do all we can in accordance with her wishes.

If Terri had left a living will that requested that such measures not be taken, I assume that you would also would respect her wishes. Unfortunately, she left no such will... so the courts are the only way to resolve this... and every time the courts have found in favor of the right to die.

I dont claim this is a simple issue, I have made no attempt to slander her husband or her parents (I have been unpleasantly shocked by the attempts of politicians and, yes, the parents to portray the husband as the embodiment of evil when the facts clearly do not justify this). I think the parents are people in pain clinging to the body of a daughter that is long gone.

No matter what side you take it is clearly a tragedy, I think that having her used as a political tool only compounds the tragedy. Don't you agree?

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