Some random thoughts that have arisen because of this sad affair:
- Congrats to Terri's parents for running one of the best media campaigns in recent history.
- Apparently, in Texas there is a law that allows hospitals to end life support if it is deemed futile and if the patient doesn't have money to pay for the continuing life support. If one of the issues in the Schiavo situtation is ending a life of someone who has a "poor quality of life," isn't this Texas law outrageous?
- When Tupac was shot, the doctors brought him back to life a few times. Finally, Tupac's mother told the doctors that if he died again, let him go.
Suppose what happened with Tupac happened today. Suppose people found out that the mother decided to tell the doctors "DNR". Would his life be worth saving?
- We have a situation where a person has enough function to regulate breathing and heart beats. But the person can't feed themself. Someone wants to have the feeding tube removed. Terri is being murdered.
- We are in this situation because of the advancement of technology and medicine. Medicine has gotten to the point where someone like Terri can be kept alive after suffering brain damage. Technology has gotten to the point where someone like Terri can be kept alive after suffering brain damage and the story can be beamed across the world via satellite, talk radio, and the internet.
Many of us will have to deal with this situation, if we haven't done so already.
- Updated:Tay–Sachs disease
Inherited disorder, due to a defective gene, causing an enzyme deficiency that leads to blindness, retardation, and death in infancy. It is most common in people of Eastern European Jewish descent
When I worked in the U.K., a woman needed to have the test done for Tay-Sachs disease. She had it done, but the test results got lost in the medical system. She and her husband had a window of opportunity to get the test done and they feared the second test results would not be returned in time.You see, on a regular basis, children in the womb who test positive for the disease are aborted.
And the outcry there is where?
- This is worse than O.J.