Terri Schiavo

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I also don't care if the husband is a sleezebag. He probably is a sleezebag, and that's why the parents needed to step in to begin with. If he was a good guy, the parents and him probably could have sat down and worked things out. But the bottom line is this case went to the courts and by a preponderance of the evidence it was revealed that dying was what Terri would have wanted. When it comes down to it, the parents could not present any evidence that Terri would have wanted to live in this state. The husband was able to make his case, and the courts ruled that Terri would have wanted to die. That's the bottom line, this case should be decided based on what she would have wanted.

It's heart wrenching for her to have to die this way. But from a purely scientific standpoint, her brain is already dead. She's just a ball of neurological reflexes at this point. You could argue that there is a soul in there, but that would be a religious argument, open to too many interpretations, and has no place in our court system.

Couldn't agree more. I haven't been following the situation too closely but hope it is a situation I never have to face.

As others have said, it is a shame that 1) The parents and the husband couldn't work it out; 2) An extremely personal decision (BTW - I mean Terri's decision) required the intervention of a 3rd party mediator (the judicial system); and 3) the decision has become politicized and the focal point of groups whose interests are only tangentially related to the real wishes of Ms. Schiavo.