This is obviously a tremendously emotionally charged case, there are fuzzy aspects to the husbands motivations, which is why this has drawn on so long, and of course, the parents are blinded by grief and love.
Quite Simply though, as was said, the cognitive portion of her brain no longer exists, you can hope and pray for a miracle all you want, but I think we can all agree, miracles are long shots (or they wouldn't be miracles.). We have artifically extended this womans life through technology, it's IMO, a case where technology has done something bad for us rather than good. I think this woman left her body long long ago and I doubt that wherever she is, what happens to the husk on that bed is of little consequence to her, it was after all, only a vessel for a time in her own belief system.
As far as making euthenasia legal, I have to say I am still against that. it is one thing to take a person of a respirator or feeding tube, it is something else entirely. Let me clarify, in Terri's case, letting her body fail is horrible, but neccessary, There are probably quite a few people who could flip a switch and actively pump her body full of poisons, but I am not one of them, I would be one of those wondering the rest of my life if I snuffed out a miracle before it could happen. But, in all honesty terri is not coming back, so letting her go is one thing.
however, take the case of a man wracked with a horrible, painful cancer that is destryoing him from the inside, he is fully awake, alert, and cognitive. Does he have a right to have someone kill him? Where does the right to have your life taken begin and end? What if the cure for his cancer is only a few days away, what a sad thing his loss would be. more importantly, legally sanctioning suicide (which is what euthenasia is) quite simply puts foot firmly on a slipperly slope where they sanctity of life becomes lessened.
If I were the man in the above example, I would never ever give in. I would fight death to my last breath and hold on to the chance to live my life with every ounce of strength, scraping and scrabbling against the tide beyond the poing of bloody fingers and tattered flesh.. Life is Important, and how you leave this one, is important in how you enter the next one. Terri really didn't have a choice in the matter, her life was stolen from her long ago, she's been dead since the day she became a vegetable, but if you ARE cognitive... you fight. period. The reason you won't see a law sanctioning this, is that everyone draws the line in a different place, no one really can define where the slope begins, and where your right to end your life begins.
Anyhow, I hope Terri is already at peace, and if not, I hope she will be soon.
Quite Simply though, as was said, the cognitive portion of her brain no longer exists, you can hope and pray for a miracle all you want, but I think we can all agree, miracles are long shots (or they wouldn't be miracles.). We have artifically extended this womans life through technology, it's IMO, a case where technology has done something bad for us rather than good. I think this woman left her body long long ago and I doubt that wherever she is, what happens to the husk on that bed is of little consequence to her, it was after all, only a vessel for a time in her own belief system.
As far as making euthenasia legal, I have to say I am still against that. it is one thing to take a person of a respirator or feeding tube, it is something else entirely. Let me clarify, in Terri's case, letting her body fail is horrible, but neccessary, There are probably quite a few people who could flip a switch and actively pump her body full of poisons, but I am not one of them, I would be one of those wondering the rest of my life if I snuffed out a miracle before it could happen. But, in all honesty terri is not coming back, so letting her go is one thing.
however, take the case of a man wracked with a horrible, painful cancer that is destryoing him from the inside, he is fully awake, alert, and cognitive. Does he have a right to have someone kill him? Where does the right to have your life taken begin and end? What if the cure for his cancer is only a few days away, what a sad thing his loss would be. more importantly, legally sanctioning suicide (which is what euthenasia is) quite simply puts foot firmly on a slipperly slope where they sanctity of life becomes lessened.
If I were the man in the above example, I would never ever give in. I would fight death to my last breath and hold on to the chance to live my life with every ounce of strength, scraping and scrabbling against the tide beyond the poing of bloody fingers and tattered flesh.. Life is Important, and how you leave this one, is important in how you enter the next one. Terri really didn't have a choice in the matter, her life was stolen from her long ago, she's been dead since the day she became a vegetable, but if you ARE cognitive... you fight. period. The reason you won't see a law sanctioning this, is that everyone draws the line in a different place, no one really can define where the slope begins, and where your right to end your life begins.
Anyhow, I hope Terri is already at peace, and if not, I hope she will be soon.