How much is a life worth?

[Bonnie]

Merlin1047

I'm comfortable with letting someone in this condition die if that is what the person wants. So I suppose that brings us back at the beginning of the argument - does Terri Schiavo want to die? If there is sufficient evidence that this was her wish, then it should be honored. And that is really what this court battle has as its central issue. The argument is not so much over whether Terri's condition merits keeping her alive as opposed to her wishes regarding being kept alive in this condition.

True, but lets for a moment look at it another way...Suppose when you are actually in her position your wishes change? We are assuming that her quality of life is horrible..... it may be to us but what if now that she is in that position she is just happy to be alive and see her parents walk into that hospital room everyday?

When I look at old people who seem to have a horrid quality of life, I make jokes to my loves ones that If I get to that point in life just shoot me and put me out of my misery because Im too independent to want others to have to care for me and help with bed pans etc. But then I take a step back and realize maybe they said the exact same thing at some point, but now that they are here, they may just be happy to be alive to see another day?

It's easy to make her parents villians in this..."the budinsky in-laws" but look at it form their persepctive, she is their flesh and blood daughter and to them she is still very precious, they are fighting to save her life, they aren't asking anything of her "husband" but to let her go to their care. If it were your daughter and her eyes lit up everytime you walked into the room, would it be easy for you to say okay just starve her to death????

 

[SmarterThanYou]

what if.....what if.....what if......

we shouldn't be doing this kind of argumentative BS. We HAVE to assume that the person is of sound mind and body when these wishes for self determination beyond the ability to function unless there is credible evidence to suggest otherwise. If we start basing decisions on things after the fact, we're in for decades of second guessing each other and we end up with total confusion.