Paxety Pages

In 1990, Terri suffered a blood electrolyte imbalance that was not diagnosed by the hospital.  She had a heart attack with resulting damage to her brain.  Her husband, Michael, sued the hospital and won a judgment of a bit over a million dollars. Since, she's been in an extended care facility in the Tampa area. She is not sick, is not on life support, but, since she cannot swallow, she is fed and hydrated through a tube. Terri never signed any kind of living will or anything other kind of instruction that would apply to her medical situation.

Michael, on the other hand, found a girlfriend and has had a couple of kids with her.  He sued for the right to stop feeding Terri, saying they were once watching a television show about someone in a coma, and Terri commented that she would not want to live like that. Michael found doctors who said Terri is in a persistent vegetative state.  The judge agreed the evidence was sufficient to stop feeding Terri.

Terri's parents disagreed, and promised to care for Terri.  They even went so far as to say Michael could keep any of the remaining money and that they would pay all of Terri's expenses.  They said the would agree to granting Michael a divorce.  He refused and insisted on killing Terri.  I won't go into the long details, but the case has been before the courts for years.  The State Legislature and the Governor have tried to intervene.  This afternoon a hearing is scheduled that may be the last.

Pat Campbell, a blogger and radio talk show host in Orlando, is closely following the case. Jerri Lynn Ward at Sue Bob's Diary has an excellent, must read post comparing Terri's case to the one of Baby Hudson in Texas and to euthanasia and The Groningen Protocol in Europe. She rationally discusses the severe conflict of interest issues in this case.  Stop fooling around and go read it - it's really excellent.

Now that you're back, Hugh Hewitt posts an email from a reader:

"If I said to someone, 'Man, I would rather die then go through that,' does that mean I need to file legal documents if I ever change my mind or if there is a possibility that I might be misinterpreted?

 

What if someone just makes up the recollection --am I a dead man if I am ever unconscious?

 

Do I need to have a tattoo on my forehead, 'Don't kill me?'"

Reading that email brought the case home to me.  Twenty years ago next month, I was driving along a street, following along in traffic well below the speed limit, minding my own business, when a child darted into my path.  I jerked my car off the road, and it turned over in a ditch.  I suffered a brain injury. I couldn't think, couldn't speak very well, and couldn't function as I once had. I certainly could not practice law.  My wife threw me out of the house and filed for divorce saying I'd never make enough money for her. I lived through it, began a career in journalism, and have survived.

But what if I were more severely injured?  What if I, like Terri Schiavo, could not speak at all and was confined to a nursing home?  I know what would have happened.  The bitch would have killed me, too.

Think about it.  It could happen to you.

More at Blogs For Terri which has a blogroll, LaShawn Barber, The Anchoress, and Terri's Fight.  I don't see anything on this from the big-time bloggers - where are Instapundit, Captain's Quarters, Powerline, LGF, etc?