A Little Reading on T. Schiavo

Found in abstractappeal.com are several reviews of the Terri Schiavo furor. Like almost everyone, I believe the removal of food and water is not "letting her die." It seems more like murder. And if it is finally decided that she is to die, then afford her the same consideration we afford mass murderer's, a quick painless death by drug overdose.

You don't hear much about the facts in the news, as the news never allows the facts to stand in the way of a selling story. However a bit of reading as cited above clearly indicates that Terri Schiavo is in a persistant vegetative state that she will never recover from. There is no evidence that she responds to any stimuli. Medical evidence is that her cerberal cortex is essentially totally destroyed from anoxia, is withered and degenerated. In other words, she has not had, nor will she have any ability of cognition. She cannot swallow (and indication of cognition). All the actitivities we see on news film is what one would see from anyone in that particular condition. The surprising thing is that she has lived much longer than others in that condition.

Her family must be going through absolute hell with this. Like almost any parents, they are willing to do almost anything to see their child survive. The Guardian ad litem review indicates they are willing to take any and all steps to see that she survives. (Read the attached for particularly gruesome details).

There is no evidence that the husband is doing this for gain. In fact, the evidence is that he spent 4 years doing everything he could, inculding "innovative" approaches to recovery before becoming convinced that the situation was hopeless. Note: in the hearings 7 years ago, the husbands's neurosurgeons and one appointed by the court presented overwhelming scientific evidence of the hopeless persistant vegetative state, while the parent's doctors presented anecdotal evidince of the opposite.

Of great interest are comments from Sen (Dr.) Frist, who believes, contrary seemingly overwhelming medical evidence, that there is hope. His comment that there were "scores" of doctors who dispute the findings is of interest. Have any of the "scores" volunteered any of their time to prove this belief?

This is a case where there are no winners. It seemingly is one that our pols are using to grab loads of attention.

We may never know all the facts. It has convinced me that I need a living will.