BEFORE I START… can someone pleas tell me the secret to using apostrophes and periods in a post without freaking out the HTML shit???? I get all this weird stuff that I have to go back and edit and it looks fine in the preview but when it gets published its whacked.

I think that this is what its really about. Most of the Ministers here at Nakedvilliany are parents. And with all the legal mumbo-jumbo, rights, and postulating I think we are missing the big picture here.

The way the parents of Terri see it is that if there is life in there daughter there is still hope. Hope for recovery, cure, or whatever. Besides, if the left gets its way with stem cell research, why is there no hope?

But if the tube is not inserted and the body dies, ALL hope is gone for her in this life.

I personally would not want to ‘live’ as a vegetable. I would have given up on hope for MYSELF years ago if I was Terri. It seems to me that Michael Schiavo has given up as well and needs to move on with his life. Maybe hook up with that little cutie at the grocery store he has had his eyes on for the last 10 years (or whatever).

But I am glad to know that Terri’s Mom and Dad have NOT given up on their daughter. Because, as quick to pull the plug on myself as I am (if I were in Terri’s shoes) I would not be able to do it for my daughter (Heather: almost 3) or son (Hugh: 2 months). I would step in front of a train, car, bullet, etc to save them, so why would I pull the plug or take out the tube to kill them… even if they were in a vegetative state. Because I would still have hope for them to live or recover or have some miracle bring them back.

Now maybe the other Ministers here are more INTJ types that can calculate the odds and spout law and personal rights knowledge and be able to take the tube out of their own children but I am certainly not in that camp.

Since she apparently can’t feel pain or have any idea what is going on with her, why not give her and her parents hope? Obviously, Michael can’t be THAT concerned with what his wife wishes if she has no thoughts or feelings now.

Is it any less cruel to keep her alive than it would be to remove the apparatus that keeps her alive? If yes, how so? If she doesn’t meet any of your requirements of being a human being than why not just let her continue in the state she is in?

Obviously, her folks don’t mind the expense of keeping her alive and her husband has said that it is not about money as well.

Also, while we are healthy and have all of our mental faculties we might say a lot of things like, “I wouldn’t want to live if I was _____”. I don’t think that I want live to be old and feeble either, but it is the rare senior citizen that is really done with life when they hit their 70s and 80s and truly wants to die (even if they are old and feeble).

So… I feel it is a shame that M Schiavo has given up, but for others who love her dearly, and those that respect the spark of life, no matter how faint, don’t take our hope away.

Back to the trenches