The Shrine

Has anyone heard on the news about this dying woman in Florida who has been kept alive for years on a life-support system?

Her husband wanted to pull the plug... He says that she would want it that way... her parents still cling to the hope that she will magically spring back to life again and have been fighting the husband.

They went to court and Republicans in the U.S. congress spent your tax dollars trying to stop him... only just today the feed tube was pulled out.

Keep in mind that these are the same Republicans who sent 1,500+ young, perfectly healthy American youths to die in Iraq... and this woman would die *naturally* without life support...

What do you think?

Is this even an issue that Congress should be *bothering* with? I sure as hell don't think so.

I'm not going to touch the congressional aspect of that post with a ten foot pole.

That being said, that sort of situation isn't something I'd wish on anyone.

She's been vegetative for fifteen goddamn years. If she was going to recover, she would have by now.

Just let her go as peacefully as is possible.

It's a shame that it's a feeding tube, because it's going to take her weeks to pass away from starvation, and this situation is going to get a lot uglier in that time, I think.

I'm dumbfounded by how idiotic this whole Conservative vs. Liberal battle is becoming in America. What fucking lengths will we go to to find pawns for our political bickering.

But just to stoke the flames: the husband's real motives have been brought into question recently. This isn't just a pro/anti-euthanasia issue.

I'm not sure what about his motives is really under question. Sure, he's seeing another woman now and has some kids, but as I understand it that's a more recent thing, not something he turned around and did a week after her brain injury.

The real problem is the extent of her brain injury. From what I've read, a significant part of her brain (read: damn near most) has atrophied and died. This includes the bits responsible for cognition, voluntary motor control, and pretty much everything else we associate with being a responsive, functional human being. A lot of her cranium is filled with fluid that has replaced the brain tissue that died.

Her brainstem is fine. Thus, her autonomous nervous system is going strong - she can breathe, her heart is fine, etc. She just has no control over being able to eat things herself (and in all likelihood, no real sense that this needs to be done), thus the need for the feeding tube. Problem is, since her brainstem is fine, if they keep the tube in she'll probably be around for decades.

This isn't like someone being knocked out for a few days after some head trauma and being taken off life support then. There is no way for her to recover from this, because her brain is not going to magically regenerate.

Meh. This whole situation just sucks for everyone involved. That being said, I think it's going to motivate me to fill out a living will and get it notarized, because there is no goddamn way I'd want to saddle anyone with this sort of problem.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... Mar19.html

*twitch*

I first heard about this case way back in September of last year. It's fucking assinine, let her pass on already. North American culture doesn't deal with death very well though, so shit like this comes up.

Fucking assholes!

So, basically, they want the federal government to have less power except when it benefits them politically. Nice.

I just want the federal government to stop deciding what's best for me. As long as I don't hurt no one, leave me alone. Period

It's officially become a political soap opera. Excellent! Now I can safely ignore the news for a few days.