According to salon.com, society pretty much does agree. They cite polls saying that 87% of people would want their feeding tube removed if they were in the same situation and 98% think the government shouldn't decide cases like this.

Thanks for taking the time to write. I’ve received so many notes about the Terri Schiavo case that I decided to send out a note with some of the best writing on Terri available…and that is Wesley Smith.

Please take note of a few things

We have the right to life, given to us by God (see the declaration of independence) and guaranteed by the laws and courts of the United States of America

Convicted killers, accused terrorists and child molesters have the right to federal court oversight of their cases…but until Congress acted this weekend, Terri Schiavo did not. Ask yourself why this is so?

Terri Schiavo is not brain dead…but she is brain damaged

She is not on life support…she only needs food and water

She is being slowly starved to death as you read this note…so please think about that as you eat your breakfast.

Every person should control their own fate…and decide when and whether they want their life continued. Terri Schiavo doesn’t have anyone to speak for her…except her husband (and please refer to the article I’ve enclosed)…who
told a jury he would rehabilitate his wife

Won a large court judgement of more than one million dollars that he promised to spend on rehab of his wife

He has not done any rehab of Terri Schiavo

However, he has

Ordered that she not be resuscitated

Ordered that her infections not be treated

Spent more than half of her rehab money on an attorney to get permission to kill her

If this doesn’t persuade you that her life should be continued…what would.

Thanks for taking the time to write…and please read the attached material.

Thanks

Lars

While it is too late to preserve Ms. Schiavo’s dignity, all interested parties have received intense due process in securing her right to leave behind the glare of publicity surrounding her unfortunate existence. That the self righteous pretend to know the answer to this gnarly problem speaks volumes as to the tyranny of the minority in this Country. Of course all involved state court judges and now a federal court judge have upheld this woman's right to rest in peace. I say God speed Ms Schiavo and may your case soon lie moot while the court of public opinion rages on.
P.S. Those of you so passionate about preserving life may exercise your prerogative by opting for life support on your directive despite a persistent vegetative state.

Lars, according to the guardian ad litem's report, she did receive years of "regular and intense physical, occupational and speech therapies." And since the money was placed in a trust, he had no control over it.

And her family has admitted in a previous trial that she is in a persistent vegetative state, and that even if she were in pain, had diabetes, and had her limbs amputed due to gangrene, they would still derive pleasure from her life and therefore keep her alive; and that even if they were certain that she had said she didn't want to be kept alive in this state, with nutrition provided by stomach tube, they'd go against her wishes and keep her alive.

Lars has spoken, now there is nothing more to be said he has laid it all out as truth. So I just got done listening to the opening to his show and what he said there was very close to verbatim to his post here. He is such a nice compassionate guy.

The point is for the base to be roused past the dousing point. They can't lose.

What strikes me about the Shiavo case is teh majority of the public's undying faith that the court system always works as it should and that so few members have expressed concern about the obviously pragmatic and political nature of the judges' rulings in this matter. The musings of a person in her 20s about what she would do if left in a state such as Shiavo's don't constitute a reasoned advanced directive-if there is such a thing. Those of us who HAVE had a loved gradually deteriorate know decisions in this kind of situation are NOT simple and that, too often, are dictated by insurance company and HMO economics and not by careful consideration of what is best for an individual/family. Wesley smith is awesome, his writing lucid and reseach meticulous. It seems too many are willing to dismiss his book on the culture of death as "right wing" . It isn't. Smith is a careful intellectual. This attitude causes me to conclude it is my fellow Democrats who are being pig-headed here. There are conflicting professional opinions in the Shiavo case. And we are all "terminal" in the ultimate sense. To me, it is scary to see judges going along with what is cheapest for insurance companies and HMOS and these adhering to the monetary bottom line. That the majority of the public can't see this only speaks to its naivete.

Lars should have watched "Nightline" last night. Terri Schiavo's court-appointed guardian refuted most everything Lars said in his comment. Michael Schiavo has taken exemplary care of his wife. The guardian said that actually he was being accused of being too demanding that Terri get the very best nursing and medical care. Money, he said, is not an issue for Michael. Most of the settlement she received has gone into her care; the rest into attorney fees.

People like Lars should do their research before they spout untruths from neo-con talk radio. The guardian knows more than anyone else about Terri's condition. He is convinced that she is unresponsive and in a persistent/permanent vegetative state.

The problem with politicizing/polarizing this dilemma is that what the majority of the public, democrats, liberals, or conservative/neo-cons believe is absolutely irrelevant here. The only relevant inquiry is what Ms Shiavo preferred happen in the event she was determined to be in a persistent, vegetative state. That intent has legal significance when given at any time after the age of majority. Unless, or until changed or revoked, that intent should be respected and determine the ultimate outcome. It is heart rending when that decision does not comport with the desires of parents and siblings but, again their preferences must yield to the will of their loved one.

Yes, Geno. But another "problem" with this gruesome politicization is that the divide being formed in the body politic is deliberate and calculated. In my view the orchestrators can't lose and the country can't win.

And to that prescient observation, I say: AMEN!

For anyone who doesn't like politics coming into life and death decisions...someone please tell me...when has politics NOT played a role in life and death. Maybe we should poll the city fathers of Carthage...or ask Roe...or quiz the residents of the Ghetto.

thank goodness the American People have a clear choice in the future

Deathacrats- celebrating the culture of death
Republicans- honoring life

Lars

What part of "shut up" don't you understand?

Go back to badgering the Multnomah County Commissioners, where you are needed, Lars. You've misspelled the word du jour by the way. It's Deathocrats. It's also stupid, and I ain't even never been one.

Congress and the Executive have never taken unto themselves this power over family medical decisions or state medical law. I've notified my father the lawyer with the grand news that he needn't worry about me being executor of his estate anymore other than to serve as dispatch agent eastwards.

There is no place this power if taken and wielded couldn't go.

"Deathacrat"?!

Nice. Lars, did you make this up yourself or do you have a team of writers working around the clock? I know shallow polemic sells air time like nothing else but I guess I would've expected a little more KXL's finest.

"Lars, why do you hate America so?" Hey, look at me - gimme a talk radio show!

Fiduciaries always act in the best interest of their charges. You so easily assume so without looking deeper. I like it. And I still have several bridges over the Willmette for sale.

Cynthia,
If the fiduciary WASN'T acting in Ms. Schiavo's best interests, she'd have been dead a long time ago. The fiduciary didn't ask to have Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube removed for 8 YEARS after her injury. Hardly sounds like a runaround for money.

http://www.miami.edu/ethics2/schiavo/timeline.htm

Add the 11th Circuit to the due process mix now, and get ready for the Supremes to accept review while Jeb and his cronies in the FLA Legislature seek to remove Michael as guardian.
Tune into FOX and hear the change in tenor. The moralists are torn.

Lars:

I think most of us see this poor woman, her poor husband and parents, and think "How terribly sad," and pray to God that the end of our lives are easier -- and more private -- for ourselves and our families.

You see her and you think about votes for your political party of choice. You seek to fatten yourself on her dying body. You celebrate the culture of carrion. For shame.

Who is telling the truth? Parents or Husband? Doctor 1 or Doctor 2? Governor or President? As a parent I would do almost anything to protect my child. Then, I personally wouldn't want to live Terri's life as it is now. What a tragic case for the public to fight over. Remember that all of us are going to die at some time in the future. It seems we all want to live until the end comes. Pray for Terri.

Just popped my head up from reviewing the tax consequences of transfers of negative-equity real property for zero consideration and had to ask Who's Terry Schiavo?

just kidding

Incidentally, the manner in which the Schindler family was made aware that Michael was engaged to another woman while still married to Terri was receiving the obituary of Michael’s mother, Claire Schiavo, when she died in 1997.

In part of the obituary it was stated that Claire Schiavo is survived by Michael Schiavo and his fiancée Jodi Centzone. There was no mention of Michael Schiavo’s wife, Terri?

This happened once again in 2001 when Michael Schiavo's father passed away. While Jodi Centzone was mentioned as Michael’s fiancée, there was no mentioning of Michael’s current wife, Terri.

Note: Michael Schiavo did testify that he was in fact engaged to marry Jodi Centzone once his wife has passed away.

Since Michael Schiavo will not allow Terri to have a proper burial and insist on cremating her , (was that cremation also her wishes also Michael ?) or just another way to control and cover up, when Michael does cremate Terri , I think Terri supporters should go to Michael and Jodi home on MARRIE CT CLEARWATER, FL (off of Enterprise) around the clock to mourn Terri forever and I hope the public will never let them live in peace. but remind them daily that the public will never forget that they murdered Terri. I also believe Jodi was part of this murder. Terri will have the last word after the autopsy .Terri go in peace and be with God