Terri Schiavo Update

[ghostie79]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

Schiavo Update

October 20, 2003 - 10:34PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE FLORIDA HOUSE VOTES TO GIVE GOVERNOR BUSH THE POWER TO INTERVENE IN THE FIGHT OVER A BRAIN-DAMAGED WOMAN WHOSE FEEDING TUBE WAS REMOVED LAST WEEK.
TERRI SCHIAVO HAS BEEN IN A COMA.. SINCE A 1990 HEART ATTACK.
HER HUSBAND WANTS TO LET HER DIE.. BUT TERRI'S PARENTS ARE FIGHTING FOR THEIR DAUGHTER'S LIFE.
TONIGHT THE FLORIDA HOUSE VOTED 68-TO-23.. TO GIVE GOVERNOR BUSH THE POWER TO ISSUE A "STAY" IN SCHIAVO'S CASE.. MEANING.. HER FEEDING TUBE WOULD BE RE-INSERTED.
THE SENATE PLANS TO TAKE UP THE BILL TOMORROW.

And from Yahoo:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

Fla. House OKs Reinserting Feeding Tube
26 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!

By JACKIE HALLIFAX, Associated Press Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida House voted late Monday to give Gov. Jeb Bush the power to intervene in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed last week by her husband's order.

The House voted 68-23 in favor of the bill. The state Senate planned to take it up Tuesday.

The bill would give the state's governor 15 days to order a feeding tube to be reinserted in cases like Terri Schiavo's. The governor's power would be limited to cases where a person has left no living will, is in a persistent vegetative state, has had nutrition and hydration tubes removed and where a family member has challenged the removal.

Schiavo, 39, meets all the bill's requirements. She has been at the center of a decade-long court battle between her parents, who want her to survive, and her husband. Michael Schiavo contends he is carrying out his wife's wishes to not be kept alive artificially.

Bush said in a statement earlier Monday that lawmakers understand the "unique and tragic circumstances of Ms. Schiavo's case, and I am hopeful the Legislature will pass a bill immediately."

Court-appointed doctors have described Schiavo as being in a vegetative state, caused when her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected potassium imbalance.

The tube was removed Wednesday. As of Monday, doctors estimated Terri Schiavo would live little more than another week.

George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, said he thinks the House legislation is unconstitutional.

"I don't believe that the Legislature has the authority to interfere," Felos said.


__________________

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP: 10.24.2003
Save 10% off of your purchase at Art.com with coupon code C258888663426.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[shayshay]

YES!!!! A small victory!!! Are they reinserting it tonight??


__________________

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[ghostie79]

i'm not sure...it sounds like tomorrow maybe??? as long as the senate approves.

[freesurfer]

That's 13 years in a coma....that is so sad

I see this as a good hot potato topic! I feel really mixed on this....one side is that the woman deserve to rest and be at peace...but yet....she just could come out of it. Could you imagine holding onto your daughter laying in a hospital for 13 years??? And just really never knowing.

[pandybat]

Originally posted by freesurfer
That's 13 years in a coma....that is so sad

I see this as a good hot potato topic! I feel really mixed on this....one side is that the woman deserve to rest and be at peace...but yet....she just could come out of it. Could you imagine holding onto your daughter laying in a hospital for 13 years??? And just really never knowing.

Well, if I remember right, she's only brain-damaged, not brain-dead. She's not in a coma. So there's no chance of her 'coming out of it'. She's always going to be in her present vegetative state. But she is breathing on her own and is only hooked to a feeding tube. She's also responsive to people around her and because of that, it would be hard for me to let her go too if she were my daughter. If she couldn't breathe OR eat on her own, I would have to question myself if it would be ethical for me to allow her to go on in that state. But if she could breathe on her own and only needed the feeding tube for sustenance, I wouldn't disconnect it. As long as the money was available for me to continue her treatment in that manner for as long as I could, I would.
As long as Terry's parents had the money to give her the treatment, they should be allowed to do whatever they want to keep her alive too. I'd hate to be in their shoes right now. Terry was such a beautiful girl before this happened too. It's so sad. You can read the whole story here: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] I personally think her husband ought to be shot for what he is doing.

[NaomiMarie]

I've been following this heart-wrenching story........


__________________

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP: 10.24.2003
Save 10% off of your purchase at Art.com with coupon code C258888663426.

[AndersonGal]

I hope if anything awful like this happens to me.
Everyone would just mind their own business and carry through my wishes. WHATEVER those may be.

[Mouse7088]

Last night while typing my reply I was disconnected...well I copied my post for posting today...I am NOT posting my inititial thoughts. I went to the site Sandy posted and read up on Terri's situation. My inititial reaction was basically...let her go. Ummm, I suggest everyone reading more about Terri...watch the videos of her that her family has taken. This woman is NOT just "there" by any means. Her husband could have legally divorced her YEARS ago, but he has chosen to be engaged AND live w/ his fiance for the 4+ years...and pursue legal rights to remove Terri's feeding tube. THIS is what would cause her death, STARVATION. It DOES seem to me that he would rather her "pass away" in order to "inherit" her remaining funds than simply divorce her...I seriously do not feel he is remaining married to her for HER best interest (read: as if he doesn't want to see her live out her life in this state).

[ghostie79]

I agree, Mouse. I also think that he's afraid of what she might tell people if she were able to talk/communicate.

[Mouse7088]

AndersonGal...I do agree, for those EXTREME cases. If I was living by way of machines only, non-responsive in any way, good golly..let me go. If I was like Terri though....I wouldn't want someone to let me starve to death. Hey, Kenny is ENCOURAGED to move on with his life w/o any guilt for doing so. I can imagine he would struggle with moving on, out of a sense of obligation, but I don't think he would find letting me die to be easier than moving on. Make sense???

[AndersonGal]

Well, my wishes would be~ if there's a chance I'll be okay-keep me going.

If there is no chance and I'm just to be a total potato- unplug me.

But, I would NOT want other groups or individuals making that decision for anyone.

[NaomiMarie]

In THIS case I believe she ought to remain connected to her feeding tube,etc.
I'm NOT convinced that this (having the tube removed) is what Terri would have wanted.

Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in assisted suicide.
When living isn't really living and quality of life is such that you're merely existing, people ought to have the right to say ENOUGH and slip away peacefully. (Dr. K. is NOT a murderer in my eyes).
I think there is such a things as 'mercy killing'.
My DH already knows how I feel on this subject. I DO NOT want to be kept alive by machines,etc (no intervention). I told him to plesae just put me outta my misery. When it's my time .....it's my time!

[doglover22]

I really hope that this woman is given a chance to see if she can get better. Starving to death seems so imhumane to me.

You know, I really have to wonder if the husband wants her to die naturally instead of getting a divorce because they are Catholic (at least Terri's family is Catholic so it would be safe to assume he is too). The Catholic church frowns upon divorce, but if your spouse dies, you are free to remarry. Of course, by being with this other woman he is committing adultry which is just as bad according to Catholic beliefs, so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it at all. Just a thought.

[Shainie]

I think her husband is doing this for his own selfish reasons - not for Terri's well-being. He probably sees her as a burden, wants to get rid of her and move on with his life.

I think her parents should have rights over him. They brought her into this world. If some son-in-law of mine made decisions to let my daughter die, he would be the one looking for a gravestone.

From Terri's site:

Terri has no will. Should she die, her husband will inherit what is left of Terri’s $750,000 medical fund.

Terri’s husband lives in a house with Jodi Centonze. He openly admits that he has been engaged to this women for over seven years, have recently given birth to a baby girl, and has announced plans to marry her when Terri is no longer alive.

Since receiving the award money in 1993, her husband has ceased and prohibited any new or aggressive treatment for Terri. He has only maintained Terri at a nursing home (currently, Terri is in a Hospice facility). He has totally ignored or denied rehabilitation therapy that could possibly assist Terri’s recovery.

Since 1993, Terri’s husband has consistently and deliberately withheld all medical information and data from Terri’s family. Over the past eight years he has ordered Terri’s caretakers not to reveal any medical or neurological information

Michael Schiavo will not permit any doctor to examine Terri other than the doctors he selects.

As Terri’s legal guardian, her husband has used her medical fund money to offset the legal costs when his guardianship of Terri was initially challenged and to pay the current legal costs to have Terri’s life ended.

Terri responds regularly to the presence of her parents and friends. Her husband's doctors testified Terri's cognizant responses to Terri’s parents and friends are simply a reflex action.

[freesurfer]

Pandybat:

Thanks for that link...I did miss the responsive part in the first post...gotta slow down when reading this stuff!! And so...I believe that the husband is wrong in doing this also then. You are right...starvation would be the only thing to really kill her.


__________________

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP: 10.24.2003
Save 10% off of your purchase at Art.com with coupon code C258888663426.