Last night Michael Schiavo and his attorney, George Felos, appeared on Nightline to discuss their bid to withhold nourishment and hydration from Terri Schiavo for the purpose of ending her life. Michael’s statements included the following assertions
Terry will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away. This happens across this country every day.I hope that the viewing audience was able to see through Michael's absurd suggestion that withholding nourishment for the purpose of ending life is somehow different than starving a person to death.Death through removing somebody's nutrition is very painless. That has been brought to the courts many of times. Doctors have come in and testified. It is a very painless procedure
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Michael also claimed that his wife’s death would be "painless" and Nightline asked no follow-up questions nor produced any rebuttal witnesses. They could have interviewed Kate Adamson who at one time was in a coma and survived an attempt by her doctors to end her life via starvation eight days without nourishment. Here is what she said,
ADAMSON: When the feeding tube was turned off for eight days, I thought I was going insane. I was screaming out in my mind, "Don't you know I need to eat?" And even up until that point, I had been having a bagful of Ensure as my nourishment that was going through the feeding tube. At that point, it sounded pretty good. I just wanted something. The fact that I had nothing, the hunger pains overrode every thought I had.
Nightline could have mentioned that forced starvation is considered torture and a violation of international law [more].
According to medical experts, after her feeding tube is removed, Mrs. Schiavo will experience extreme pain and significant psychological distress during the two weeks that her starvation-execution is expected to take.And, Nightline could have asked any nurse that has actually observed the "procedure" described as "painless" by Michael Schiavo. Here is what one such individual wrote on her blog:Her skin, tongue and lips will crack due to dehydration. Schiavo will likely suffer chronic nosebleeds as mucous membranes dry out, followed by heaving and vomiting as the stomach lining dries out.
Her mouth is expected to develop painful ulcers. As Schiavo's brain is deprived of fluid, she is expected to suffer grand mal seizures
. - Newsmax
All ethics put aside, all arguments about what is a life and what isn’t-the very worst part of what I do is watching others die a slow death. It is horrible and I don’t deal well with it.The grim reality is that murder through starvation is immoral, ugly and painful no matter how euthanasia activists attempt to dress it up. The complicity of ABC News in promoting without question Michael's characterization of killing via starvation in a stinging indictment against the network.By removing nutrition and hydration via the tubes, patients take days to die. They literally dry out. There skin becomes dry and scaly; their lips dry out and then the mouth can no longer open. The person either rolls in the fetal position and stays that way, or they lay out flat. They no longer void and their eyes become sunk in very deep.
I won’t go into anymore details as it is kind of gross, but it isn’t a pretty thing. Usually the docs and nurses do a “terrific” job with pain killers. The dying, supposedly, feel no pain. I don’t think that is ever true. I see them moaning and I have seen little tears rolling out of their dry eyes. The last patient I witnessed being put to death like this took 3 weeks to go. How sweet.
I hate to use the term “put to death” but that is what it is. No need to beat around the bush here and don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t that simple. It’s wrong and it’s barbaric. Life is life, and anyone alive who has not made their wishes known should be allowed to live. As to quality of life, who are we to decide what that is?
- AndRightlySo
Terry will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away.
"Mrs. Yates did not drown her five children. She merely held them under water for a prolonged period."
"Mr. Bundy did not strangle Kimberly Leach. He merely withdrew her oxygenation."
"Ms. Borden didn't hack her father and stepmother to death. She just interrupted their synaptic connections. With an ax."
Sounds much nicer that way, doesn't it?
Just went to that "nurses" site. She isn't a nurse. She's a nursing assistant. A nursing assistant does the more routine nursing duties under the supervision of a actual licensed nurse. A nurse has a bachelors degree in nursing. A nursing assitant takes a course and gets a certificate. I don't she how she qualified to argue with doctors. "The dying, supposedly, feel no pain. I don’t think that is ever true." She doesn't think that is true. Has she done clinical trials to prove that these people in fact feel pain?
Due to the lack of a will, I feel the law must let the parents have their daughter, let the parents become the legal gaurdian, divorce the husband, sue him for all of the medical money spent on lawyers, do the long needed physical therapy, have some real testing done and change the laws. Husbands kill their wives. Parents love their children in most cases. If the husband was the only family it would be different, if Terri had left something in writing, or told a bunch of people that she didnt want to be kept alive then it would be different. The fact that the hubby could have damaged her condition is reason enough not to deprive her of food. It is his word against the entire world and he has no right to kill her. If she was on life support, then that might be different. Why is the judge going along with his word with all of the recent murders in the news and no written will???? This is very suspicious to me. I am praying too. If they are going to kill her, Why cant they do it more humanly? Why does she have to starve to death? Does she feel pain? If you poke her with a sharp instrneedle does she flinch? I really want to know all of this stuff.
My prayers go out to the family and yes Michael Schiavo, too. I pray he stops this vicious act before he murders his wife.
"all arguments about what is a life and what isn’t-the very worst part of what I do is watching others die a slow death."
- Is that really worse than watching someone live a painful and horrible life against there wishes?
"I just wanted something. The fact that I had nothing, the hunger pains overrode every thought I had."
- That is terrible indeed, but the fact is this woman was able to have thoughts. Terry has no conscience. All electrical activity in that part of the brain has ceased. Her soul (for you religous wackos) is gone.
"Mrs. Schiavo will experience extreme pain and significant psychological distress during the two weeks that her starvation-execution is expected to take."
-She has had a psyche to experience psychological stress in a decade. Why would she experience it for the last two weeks of her life?
The point is, it doesn't matter how it looks to you at all. You can say "oh but her parents say she's still cognitive" all you want but you cannot dispute scientific fact. The only part of her brain that makes life worth living is dead (cerebral cortex). Guys, if you're going to make an argument at least make sure it isn't ridden with propoganda to further your own personal beliefs. Husbands do murder their wifes, but what the heck is your point? She's already dead, you can't murder someone who is dead. If you constitute alive to mean you have fully functional organ systems, then you should say 5 hail mary's every time you accidently step on a bug, because that is the level she functions at now; less than an insect. If you do happen to marry a man (or woman for that matter) that is willing to take you off a feeding tube for their own personal agenda, then you got what was coming to you. You married the person, it's your problem, not the governments. flame away, I love arguing