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Originally Posted by ziggytrix
One thing tho, Kev, you said yourself there's a lot of hearsay in this case, so do you mind if I ask for your source for the statment that her husband has blocked attempts at MRIs and PETs?
The report above says extensive testing, but it doesn't list what tests were performed.
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Rather than me doing this for you, go to google news, and type in "Schiavo, no MRI, no PET."
The extensive testing, to my knowledge, consisted of a CT test. This, from what I've read, is standard for cases like hers, but doesn't relay nearly as much info as a full MRI would.
The reason an MRI and PET were never conducted is because her diagnosis was clinical. There's no blood test or anything that really says "yup, this one is in persistent (or permanent) vegetation."
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Originally Posted by AChimp
There was a doctor on the radio this morning that said that several experts say that her cerebral cortex has turned to mush, and she is completely incapable of any thought.
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Who conducted these "expert" examinations? I've read the statements of several other neurologists who have stated that it's crazy that she has never even had an MRI to measure her brain activity.
Were she actually brain dead, she'd be dead, and they'd pull the tube. This woman breaths on her own, and lives off the same stuff we do.
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Her family is being retarded and need a reality check. This woman essentially died long ago and they need to let go. It's pathetic.
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And hopefully you'll never be placed in the same "retarded" position they're in.
I also have to note how humorous it is that this issue has turned everyone on the board into strict constructionalists screaming about states rights. James Madison would be proud, except I somehow doubt this argument will remain consistent depending on other issues (i.e. guns, gay marriage, capital punishment, voting regulations, education, etc.).
Some states have far more liberal laws concerning who can decide termination, some even more so than Florida. In Florida, you need to present ''clear and convincing evidence" that the person would want to die. Thus far, the courts in Florida have found Michael Schiavo's word, as well as the word of friends, to be convincing enough. Yet the words of her devoutly faithful Roman Catholic family, which Terri herself also was, seem to be moot.
I think her family deserves a fresh judicial perspective on this case.
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Originally Posted by Max
Sincere or not, impassioned or not, for members of congress to see the life of a single individual, the status of which is debatable by people of good will, as grounds for circumventing a court decision they do not like is a HUGE abbregation of responsability.
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They have not changed anything. Her tube is still out, and she still may very well die. What Congress did was vote to allow her case to be appealed beyond the state courts. This is unheard of in such cases, since this stuff is normally a private matter. But the differences between the family members is bringing the state's law into question, and Congress allowed a federal court to decide whether or not this woman's constitutional rights were being harmed.
Saying that this is simply about one woman is sort of like saying the Dred Scott ruling was just about a guy named Dred Scott. Obviously the Schiavo Bill has raised some dust on important relationships between our state and federal government, but why not debate it out in a federal court? The states clearly have massive grey areas when it comes to these substitute decision laws.