The time has come to let Terri Schiavo die

I agree with Arthur Caplan, Ph.D. (and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania), The time has come to let Terri Schiavo die

We have now reached the endgame in the case of Terri Schiavo. Her husband, Michael, remains unwavering in his view that she would not want to live in the state she is in. Despite the fact that he has been made the target of an incredible organized campaign of vilification, slander and just plain nastiness, he remains unmoved. Even a pathetic effort to bribe him into changing his mind with the offer of $1 million did not budge him. He says he loves his wife and will do whatever it takes to end an existence that he believes she would not want to endure. He thinks that she would want her feeding tube stopped and that she would wish to die rather than remain bed-bound in a nursing home in a permanent vegetative state for the rest of her days.

The Schindler parents and their other children remain equally convinced that Michael is wrong. They say that Terri would want to live, that she is not as brain-damaged as Michael contends, and that there is still hope for her recovery despite the fact that she has failed to show any real improvement in 16 years. They argue that there are still more treatments to be tried and that as a Catholic Terri would want to honor recent Papal teachings that feeding tubes should not be removed from those in permanent vegetative states.....

But, isn’t it true that tough questions have been raised about whether he has her best interests at heart? They have. But, these charges against Michael Schiavo have been heard in court again and again and again. And no court has found them persuasive.

Has there really been careful review of this case? Is Terri really unable to think or feel or sense? Will she never recover? The flurry of activity in Washington and Tallahassee might make you think there has not. But that is not so.

There have been at least 11 applications to the Florida Court of Appeal in this case resulting in four published decisions; four applications to the Florida Supreme Court with one published decision (Bush v. Schiavo); three lawsuits in federal district court; three applications to the U.S. Supreme Court and nearly untold motions in the trial court. This has got to be the most extensively litigated "right-to-die" case in U.S. history. No one looking at what has gone on in the courts in this case could possibly deny that all parties have had ample opportunity for objective and independent review by earnest and prudent judges of the facts and trial court orders.

I agree with Dr Caplan, this situation has been heard in court many many times, and most of these are documented here.

I have heard many times bloggers say "there has been no proof she had bulimia", but if that was true, why in January 1993 did Michael recovers $1 million settlement for medical malpractice claim involving Terri's care (jury had ruled in Michael's favor on allegations Terri's doctors failed to diagnose her bulimia, which led to her heart failure; case settled while on appeal).

I have also heard many times bloggers say "she never had a Guardian Ad Litem", but she did,in December, 2003. He was Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, and his report is here (PDF File).

That report says "The cause of the cardiac arrest was adduced to a dramatically reduced potassium level in Theresa’s body. Sodium and potassium maintain a vital, chemical balance in the human body that helps define the electrolyte levels. The cause of the imbalance was not clearly identified, but may be linked, in theory, to her drinking 10-15 glasses of iced tea each day. While no formal proof emerged, the medical records note that the combination of aggressive weight loss, diet control and excessive hydration raised questions about Theresa suffering from Bulimia, an eating disorder, more common among women than men, in which purging through vomiting, laxatives and other methods of diet control becomes obsessive. See also this article.

I have heard many times bloggers dismiss Michael's opinion because he moved on with his life and met another woman (with whom he has had two children), but the GAL's report says It took Michael a long time to consider the prospect of getting on with his life – something he was actively encouraged to do by the Schindlers, long before enmity tore them apart. He was even encouraged by the Schindlers to date, and introduced his in-law family to women he was dating.

I have heard many times bloggers say "Michael beat Terri". They are referring to a bone scan taken in 1991 and the doctor who read it saw on it evidence of past trauma at various places on Terri's body. Some consider that evidence of a severe beating by her husband, others consider it evidence consistent with bulimia, a fall, and CPR by paramedics. The issue was raised by the Schindlers in a November 2002 emergency motion. Judge Greer rejected the matter as being irrelevant to the issue of Terri's wishes.

I am pro-life, and some wonder why I am not campaigning for Terri to be kept alive. I was recently (September, 2004) in the hospital, and fully alert and able to make my wishes known, yet it took a threat to leave AMA (Against Medical Advice), pick up a complete copy of my record, and go to a lawyer to initiate legal action, before going to another hospital to get treatment for the condition that caused me to be hospitalized in the first place, rather than treatment for an unrelated matter which the doctor insisted on trying to force me to accept, before I got the treatment I wanted. I hate to think what would have happened had I been unconscious, and had to depend on them following a DNR form the hospital had in my file.

The Constitution (Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3) prohibits a Bill of Attainder that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial. I also do not believe that either the state or federal legislature should pass legislation designed to affect one person's life, one way or the other, and I certainly don't think they should abuse the committee subpoena power for one committee chairman to try to do it.

Byron LaMasters blogged: I could not imagine the horror of living 15 years attached to a feeding tube without the ability to think or communicate for myself. Given the choice of a brainless existence or death, I would choose to die - the choice that Terri Schiavo and her husband have made. That is much more humane than allowing someone to suffer for years on end. I pray that Terri Schiavo's suffering is nearing its end.