The Terri Schiavo case was very difficult for me. I am not a Christian per se so it was not a religious issue. The case really struck me on several levels but when it was all said and done, I found myself basically against pulling the feeding tube. Forgive me if I jump from subject to subject but here a few reasons why I disagreed:
1. I flat out did not trust Michael Schiavo, period. I don’t know why, I just did not. Just looking at the guy gave me the heebie-jeebies.
2. I felt like Michael had a financial reason for wanting Terri dead and I was really disappointed in his desire to see her receive no form of therapy.
3. I felt like if Terri had a whole family of blood relations that firmly disagreed with removing the tube then Michael should have gone with their wishes. Better yet, he could have just washed his hands of it and let them do as they wished. My mother had a living will stating she wanted no resuscitation. When she died my brother, sister and I respected her wishes. If my mother had no living will but had mentioned to me that she would not want to be a vegetable; I would respect the wishes of my brother and sister if they did not want to “pull the plug”. I would make known that she had expressed that desire, but in the end I would not fight my brother and sister in court over it. I would certainly not fight my in-laws in the same situation with my wife.
4. A HUGE point with me; she had no living will and the only person that stood to gain financially was the one person who wanted her dead.
5. To me, when he moved in with another woman, had a couple kids and settled down; I feel like that should have negated his spousal rights to order the death of his wife. He was not exactly standing by her side to the last minute.
6. I know that the autopsy has shown that her brain was half the size expected in a person of her age and size. My question is could a CT scan have shown this while she was still alive and why was one not performed?
7. Last but not least, because of this case I am re-writing my living will. Rather than pulling a feeding tube from me I would much prefer a massive morphine injection. I’m no doctor, but I will never be convinced that Terri was so far gone that she did not suffer one bit. I might have been able to go along with a quick death for her, but even then, doubts would have lingered. If nothing else, this case brought to the forefront the need for a comprehensive living will. It can save both you and your loved ones a lot of pain and suffering (no I’m not a family lawyer).
Let me end by saying that I am a pro “right to die with dignity” person. I, along with my brother and sister “pulled the plug” on my mother over nearly years ago and I have no regrets. Actually, an adrenaline type IV was the only thing keeping my mother alive due to complications from liver failure. She was breathing under her own power, but she was completely vegetative otherwise. She died within three minutes of removing the IV. I honestly think I would have broken the wishes of my mother if I would have had to watch her waste away for over a week, wondering if she was suffering the whole time.
Any thoughts??