I live in FL, so I hear about this case a lot. In case you're unfamiliar, it's the one with the woman who's been brain dead (basically) for the past 15 years with no reasonable hope of recovery.
However, her family wants to keep her on life support, praying that there's some magical miracle cure right around the corner for her type of hideously extensive brain damage.
There's not.
Even if they were to throw billions of dollars into stem cell research, it wouldn't matter.
Nearly 99% of her neocortex is dead. Gone. Never coming back. There's nothing there. No mind. No personality. No Terri. She has brain functioning which is less than that of a fish (that's not an exaggeration. It's an appropriate comparison, structurally).
However, Gov. Jeb and his congressional cavalry are now trying to draft and implement "emergency legislation" to outlaw the court order allowing her feeding tube to be removed, thus continuing to keep this shell alive. A breathing corpse.
I sympathize with the parents. I can't even imagine the pain one must experience when they lose a child. However, to delude themselves with false hopes that she'll recover and continue to sustain a lifeless body is sick, IMO. It's the fault of two doctors, who told the parents that there's "no way of being 100% certain that there is no higher order brain functioning." Basically, they were saying that there's no way to prove the unprovable.
But, when your neocortex is dead, so are you, so considering the fragile emotional state the parents are in, I find it ethically appauling that those two doctors mentioned that to the parents, when about 100 other experts in the field have disagreed with them.
I think it's a sad day when the government can determine when you die. Is this a sign of things to come, where family members will selfishly sustain your mindless corpse for the sake of their own emotional satisfaction?
Again, I understand the pain they must be going through, but I find their actions disgustingly selfish and, frankly, torturous. Personally, I find the whole situation (but especially the actions of those fighting to keep the body plugged up) deeply, deeply disturbing.
And, if you are spiritual/religious, what affect do you think this would have on your soul (your mind dying yet someone keeping your body alive)?
If you were brain dead, with zero chance of recovery, would you want your body to be plugged up to a bunch of machines for years and years, keeping that shell alive? Or, would you rather have just died in peace, body, mind and spirit together?
Just thought I'd throw out a controversial topic to get a good discussion going.
However, her family wants to keep her on life support, praying that there's some magical miracle cure right around the corner for her type of hideously extensive brain damage.
There's not.
Even if they were to throw billions of dollars into stem cell research, it wouldn't matter.
Nearly 99% of her neocortex is dead. Gone. Never coming back. There's nothing there. No mind. No personality. No Terri. She has brain functioning which is less than that of a fish (that's not an exaggeration. It's an appropriate comparison, structurally).
However, Gov. Jeb and his congressional cavalry are now trying to draft and implement "emergency legislation" to outlaw the court order allowing her feeding tube to be removed, thus continuing to keep this shell alive. A breathing corpse.
I sympathize with the parents. I can't even imagine the pain one must experience when they lose a child. However, to delude themselves with false hopes that she'll recover and continue to sustain a lifeless body is sick, IMO. It's the fault of two doctors, who told the parents that there's "no way of being 100% certain that there is no higher order brain functioning." Basically, they were saying that there's no way to prove the unprovable.
But, when your neocortex is dead, so are you, so considering the fragile emotional state the parents are in, I find it ethically appauling that those two doctors mentioned that to the parents, when about 100 other experts in the field have disagreed with them.
I think it's a sad day when the government can determine when you die. Is this a sign of things to come, where family members will selfishly sustain your mindless corpse for the sake of their own emotional satisfaction?
Again, I understand the pain they must be going through, but I find their actions disgustingly selfish and, frankly, torturous. Personally, I find the whole situation (but especially the actions of those fighting to keep the body plugged up) deeply, deeply disturbing.
And, if you are spiritual/religious, what affect do you think this would have on your soul (your mind dying yet someone keeping your body alive)?
If you were brain dead, with zero chance of recovery, would you want your body to be plugged up to a bunch of machines for years and years, keeping that shell alive? Or, would you rather have just died in peace, body, mind and spirit together?
Just thought I'd throw out a controversial topic to get a good discussion going.