[fabsroman]

Foto,

That viewpoint is pretty good and I don't think I have looked at it quite from that angle. I have been sliding from one side to another on this whole issue. At first, I was all for pulling the feeding tube. However, I then decided against it. Now, I have absolutely no clue where I stand on this issue because I think I am missing 99% of the facts.

I thought she was on a morphine drip. If she wasn't, I think that is completely wrong. My problem is that we don't really know what a person in a vegetative state can and cannot feel because I do not think anybody has ever come around from it. Hence, the hospice center should have erred on the side of caution and provided the morphine drip. I cannot imagine that the Court's Order would have stated that no morphine drop be provided. That is way out of line for the Court to decide.

I kind of agree with you about the Court relying on experts. However, they were needed to a certain degree. They were needed initially to show that Terri needed a guardian appointed for her. As far as the rest of the issue is concerned, I would guess that both sides, the Schindlers and Schiavo would have brought medical experts to testify in their case. Judge probably didn't believe any of them because they get paid from the side that they are testifying for, so he appointed a court medical expert that would be paid by the court to ensure that he/she is unbiased. This was a tough decision for the Court and I am sure there were a million things on the Judge's mind.

One thing that has to be considered is the public policy aspect on this whole thing, and that was my initial reason for pulling the feeding tube. How many people every year could be kept alive through artificial means? Probably a lot. How many of them stand a chance of pulling through? Probably very little if any. So, what happens if they do not have a Living Will or Advance Health Care Directive? Do we just keep them on life support forever to see if science will ever come up with a cure? If so, who is going to foot that bill? Everybody is already complaining about taxes and I know way too many people that are cheating on their taxes. Could you imagine that cost? Should we have court proceedings on every one to see what the family members think. I doubt all the family members would be for pulling the plug, for lack of a better term. So, how much of the Court system's time do we take up with this? Remember, the Court system is also funded by tax dollars.

Quite honestly, I think that every state in the union should pass a law stating that if a person has no Living Will or Advance Health Care Directive in place and they do not have the mental capacity to make medical decisions for themselves, it is presumed that they would favor death over artificial life support if they are in a vegetative state, coma, or suffering from a terminal illness. This would cause people to get those documents drafted if they have a wish to be kept alive under those circumstances.

This is a tough subject and a tough case.

As far as your friend is concerned, I cannot stand women and children that are like that. The only reason she is staying married to him is so that she can get everything when he passes away instead of only getting half now. The longer I live, the sicker I get of people.