Hey guys, i really need your help, what do you think about this whole terri schiavo deal? I'm writing a story for the school newspaper and i need some opposing viewpoints.

WAIT - Terry isn't "PLUGGED up" or unplugged...It's a question of her feeding tube. If you're doing a story for your school newspaper, then you should probably do a little more research. There is an entire thread about this in the "Politics" section here on allforums.

excuse me for not putting it in the proper terms. i put it that way because i figured it would get more response

Check the Politics forum, there is a huge thread near the top right now.

I kind of agree with what Mrs. Farmer said about giving her only water. I think that they should keep her unplugged from food, but if she has water she won't dehydrate - therefore she will die of a more natural cause, and it won't be as inhumane as people are making it out to be.

According to her husband, she wouldn't want to be kept alive like that. Doctors say she is in a persistant vegatative state.
The Feds are trying to step on state rights.
Let the poor woman die.
...

If that was you in that bed, would you want to die? Especially by starvation?

Guys,

While I'll consider myself ending up the way Terry did to be a fate worse than death, do you guys not feel that Terry's PARENTS have some right to decide whether she lives or dies, especially since they volunteered to take care of her?

And death by dehydration and or starvation is a very long, slow and painful way to die. I almost wish they'd give her a lethal injection and end it quickly.

Dammit.

It's almost like cruel and unusual punishment without the punishment.

Originally posted by silverbulletkc
If that was you in that bed, would you want to die? Especially by starvation?
I think it's rather irrelevant if I would want to die. The answer to your question is yes, but it's still irrelevant.
Originally posted by Darth Be'lal
And death by dehydration and or starvation is a very long, slow and painful way to die. I almost wish they'd give her a lethal injection and end it quickly.
That puzzles me, why they'd do starvation. I assume it must be more humane than it sounds, otherwise they wouldn't do it that way.

Originally posted by BorgHunter
That puzzles me, why they'd do starvation. I assume it must be more humane than it sounds, otherwise they wouldn't do it that way.

Because giving some sort of injection would be murder under Florida law (so I understand, I haven't looked it up myself), whereas just removing the feeding tube results in a "natural" death. Which just goes to show how stupid the whole thing is.

Originally posted by LionelHutz
Because giving some sort of injection would be murder under Florida law (so I understand, I haven't looked it up myself), whereas just removing the feeding tube results in a "natural" death. Which just goes to show how stupid the whole thing is.
Wow. Not to mention scary...death by negligence is A-OK?

Death by negligence?

Good point!

I see it as more cruel and inhumane to make a person live like that, after they had already lived a normal life for a long time, than it is to end their life by starvation. PLUS, she did tell her husband that she wouldn't want to live like this. That should be enough, even though there is no written will.

Why don't they just simply put a bullet through her head and be done with it. At least it would be over quick!!

Heather,

While the point about not wishing to live in the capacity that Terry Shaivo does is a good one, I'm not really all the comfortable with the idea of the State, or even another person deciding who should live and who shouldn't. Terry's husband may recall Terry saying that she wouldn't want to live in a near vegatative state, but without written proof, there is no real way of knowing that.

I'm a believer in the law. Terri's parents have argued the case in many courts and it appears they have lost on all fronts. I'm fine with that, due process has been given. But why must she starve to death when condemned inmates get a quick/painless injection without making them suffer? The ACLU would be all over the state if a convicted murderer and rapist missed one meal. Where is the ACLU now?

Originally posted by GW_Rules
But why must she starve to death when condemned inmates get a quick/painless injection without making them suffer?
Because the Religious Right won't allow euthanasia in the state of Florida. That's also Florida law.

Though, doctors do say that the way Mrs. Schiavo is dying is not inhumane and, in fact, she feels no pain, even now. Though I certainly would prefer a lethal injection, removing her feeding tube is the only way to let her die.

The ACLU would be all over the state if a convicted murderer and rapist missed one meal. Where is the ACLU now? You are sorely misinformed about the accountability of our government....

Originally posted by 500lbguerilla
You are sorely misinformed about the accountability of our government....

How I'm a mistaken? My father retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a warden. He had to contantly battle the ACLU over the "mistreatment" of convicted felons.

Some of these mistreatments consist of;

1. No cable TV
2. No newspapers
3. No smoking in high security cells
4. Having to wear orange prison jumpsuits (I'm not kidding)

But why must she starve to death when condemned inmates get a quick/painless injection without making them suffer? The ACLU would be all over the state if a convicted murderer and rapist missed one meal. You are so right about this.

I don't think the feeding tube should be re-inserted. I wouldn't want to live like Terri and I don't believe that she does either. It's up to her husband to make the decision, and not her parents.

I wouldn't want to live like Terri and I don't believe that she does either.
Being devil's advocate, I don't think she can believe anything. Really, it wouldn't matter if she's plugged back in or not, she's not there. Let the parents cry over an empty shell, eventually they'll figure out all they have left is necrophilia and snap out of it.

Dunkirk101,

Why don't we just put a bullet through your head & be done with it?? The poor woman is being starved to death by her evil husband. Let her live. She deserves to live. She is NOT in a persistent vegatative state. That is a LIE. She responds to people. Let her live. She can be rehabilitated.

Music, the doctors said Terri was in a vegatative state, so do you believe that they are actually lying? What would the doctors gain by lying? Do you have a medical license and have you examined Terri? That would be the only way for you to know her condition.

I definitely don't agree to putting a bullet though her head though, and I doubt if Dunkirk was serious about it.

Originally posted by MusicKnowItAll
Dunkirk101,

Why don't we just put a bullet through your head & be done with it?? The poor woman is being starved to death by her evil husband. Let her live. She deserves to live. She is NOT in a persistent vegatative state. That is a LIE. She responds to people. Let her live. She can be rehabilitated.
This is sarcasm, yes?

She is brain dead. which means the responses you see from her are like that of an ameaba. She doesn't feel pain or happiness or hunger or fear. The cognetive part of her brain has liquified. Turn the lights on - her eyes blink, she is not doing it, her lower brain is. Her lower brain is pumping her blood and breathing for her. Her upper brain is completely dead. She does not think, feel or have mental responses. Her physical responses are limited to natural physical responses, like gasping when getting no air, blinking when lights are turned on. She is hooked up to a catheter and wears diapers. She has absolutly no control over her body. She can not swallow. She has no thoughts. She feels no pain. She will feel no pain from starving to death.

The only choice to allow someone to die is to remove whatever technology we have that is keeping them alive. In this case it is her feeding tube. The religious gestapo is dead set against euthenasia so it is illegal. (Except here in Oregon where the religious freaks in the federal government are trying to get our State law allowing assisted suicide overturned.)

I'm fine with that, due process has been given. But why must she starve to death when condemned inmates get a quick/painless injection without making them suffer?

Actually I have heard that starving to death isnt that horrible (for someone who has given up living). Ive heard of a couple of friends grandparents who were in the hospital and did just that.

I dont know what you know about lethal injections but they are hardly 'painless.'
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engACT500011998#HLI
scroll down to Appendix 3 (its a chart)