meanwhile, terri schiavo continues to dehydrate ...

i cannot (pretend to) ignore this anymore.

first, the facts:
terri schiavo is a woman who is *not* on life support, who smiles, blinks and follows you with her eyes but otherwise lies in a vegetative state and is being fed through a feeding tube. she has been like this for 15 years, but today she is suddenly at the center of a raging controversy that, after her feeding tube was removed on friday and she started to dehydrate, caused an emergency session of congress on sunday(03/20) and a 1:00 a.m. signing of a bill on monday (03/21) that forcibly transfers jurisdiction of the Terri Schiavo case to a U.S. district court for review by a federal judge.
meanwhile, terri schiavo continued to dehydrate ...
the judge then hemmed and hawed and went to sleep (after a hearty dinner, i am sure) without giving any judgement on monday.
meanwhile, terri schiavo continued to dehydrate ...
early tuesday came the news that the judge, predictably, refused to allow the feeding tube to be reinserted.
meanwhile, terri schiavo continued to dehydrate ...
now, the schiavos have appealed to the 11th circuit court of appeals in atlanta, ga and have requested for an emergency injunction to the earlier ruling.
meanwhile, terri schiavo continues to dehydrate ...

now, my opinion:
obviously, in a case like this, it is extremely difficult to make a point one way or the other because of the sensitivity of the issue. on the one hand you have right wing idiots like wabc radio talk show host mark levin who blames the husband for having "a woman on the side and having children with her". i feel the husband cannot be blamed for this - hey she has been in this state for 15 years! i would think that after a year of trying, the hospitals and the parents would have taken the right decision to euthanise her and rid her of the agony that her life has become.
on the other hand, i cannot believe the absolutely cruel ruling to "remove her feeding tube". wait a minute, i support your decision to end her life, but does it have to be this way? do we have to let her slowly dehydrate and let her organs fail one after the other as she wastes away into oblivion? is there no quicker option to end her life?
and before you judge me as a cruel and apathetic euthan-enthusiast, let me clarify that there are multiple reasons for my view on this case.
firstly, there is the time factor. this is not someone who has just lapsed into this state. it's been 15 years and it's a daily agony for many of her loved ones. yes, it's natural for her parents to hold out hope for her and we all wish there could have been another way, but there is none.
secondly, consider the economics of the situation. i agree, there is no price to human life, but there is one for terri's feeding tube. i have heard on the radio, that this is about $6000 per month. 15 years worth is about $1,080,000. this amount could save the lives of hundreds of childen who are malnourished and not brain dead.
finally, it's the law! the spouse, good or bad he/she may be, has the final say over such matters when the partner is not in a situation to respond. in this case, he claims she had told him (though there is nothing in writing) that she did not want to continue being fed through a tube. there are many nurses who have come forward saying he is a bad person who only wants his wife dead for her money, but again, that is a matter for the courts to decide.

my final thoughts:
FIRST INSERT THE FEEDING TUBE, WHILE YOU DECIDE WHETHER YOU WANT TO KEEP HER ALIVE OR NOT!
and then if you decide to euthanise her, use barbiturates or something - and get it over with.

meanwhile, terri schiavo continues to dehydrate ...