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Is Terri Schiavo Dead? Eat, drink, and vegetate

Ronald Bailey at Reasononline.com believes because Terri Schiavo is severely disabled, cognitively impaired, will never return to normal or be useful to society, she should have her feeding tube removed to starve to death.

I volunteered for a number of years with a woman who had a brain aneurysm which left her completely paralyzed, blind, and unable to generate thought. Like Terri, she has only involuntary movements. She is tube fed a balanced diet like Terri. However, unlike Terri, she has had physical therapy and a lot of attention from volunteers and family who feed her, wash her hair, put on make-up, do her nails and talk to her. She enjoys TV and being read to, particularly mysteries. Although she can't generate thought, she can respond to it. She is not unhappy--although those who love her have suffered terribly for 25 years from her condition.

If you read the accounts of Terri's story, her husband won a large malpractice settlement so she could get the proper care, but she didn't get it. My friend, with whom I volunteered, is able to take food by mouth, like ice cream, mashed potatoes, Jell-O, etc., but it is done only for her enjoyment and to maintain some limited ability. Caretakers are extremely careful, because the food has to be placed in her mouth and then you have to wait for involuntary muscles to allow her to swallow. If you go too fast, the soft food can be inhaled causing choking.

The surgically inserted tube is for the convenience of the nursing home staff. It would take hours to get enough nutrition in a severely brain injured person by mouth. But Terri's husband didn't and wouldn't allow her to receive even water by mouth so she could learn.

Frankly, I'm not sure why the method of nutrition matters so much to people in determining Terri’s value as a human being, but if she were being fed by mouth and still in the same condition otherwise, would Bailey still want her starved to death? No one expects her to return to her 1990 self, but she is a sentient human being who is not without value.

The best solution in my opinion is to have Mr. Schiavo get a divorce and let her parents restore some dignity and privacy to her limited life. This would be best for her and for her husband who wants to get on with his life with his girlfriend and child. (Although if I were the girlfriend, I’d think twice before going to the altar with this guy.) The settlement money is mostly gone anyway.