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[missAran]

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/29/national/29wire-jackson.html?hp

For the non-subscribers:

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) -- The parents of Terri Schiavo met and prayed Tuesday with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who called her impending death "an injustice."

Joining the conservatives who have rallied to the parents' cause, the liberal Jackson said he would call state senators who opposed legislation that would have reinserted Schiavo's feeding tube and ask them to reconsider.

Terri Schiavo was in her 12th day without food and water. Her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, has insisted that he was carrying out her wishes by having her feeding tube pulled. His lawyer said Monday that an autopsy was planned to show the extent of Terri Schiavo's brain damage.

Jackson's arrival Tuesday was greeted by some applause and cries of "This is about civil rights."

"I feel so passionate about this injustice being done, how unnecessary it is to deny her a feeding tube, water, not even ice to be used for her parched lips," said Jackson, who has run for president as a Democrat. "This is a moral issue and it transcends politics and family disputes."

"I wanted the Reverend Jackson here for moral support," said Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's mother. "I feel good with him here. Very strong. He gives me strength."

University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus said Jackson's appearance shows that the life-and-death issues surrounding their daughter resonate beyond white, Christian conservatives.

"A person of faith, and not just a white, conservative person of faith will be seen as a welcomed change," MacManus said.

Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, said he visited his daughter Tuesday and said she was "failing." "She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."

After Jackson's news conference, a man was tackled to the ground by officers when he tried to storm into the hospice, Pinellas Park police said.

Dow Pursley, 56, of Scranton, Pa., was shocked with a Taser stun gun and was arrested on charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest without violence, police spokesman Sanfield Forseth said. The man had two bottles of water with him but did not reach the hospice door, police said. He is the 47th protester arrested.

On Monday, George Felos, the attorney for husband and guardian Michael Schiavo, said that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. John Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy.

He said her husband wants definitive proof showing the extent of the brain damage.

An attorney for the Schindlers, David Gibbs III, said her family also wants an autopsy. "We would certainly support and encourage an autopsy to be done, with all the unanswered questions," Gibbs said.

Felos said he had visited Schiavo for more than an hour Monday and said she looked "very peaceful. She looked calm." "I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort whatsoever," Felos said, although he added her breathing seemed "a little on the rapid side" and her eyes were sunken.

Doctors have said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two when the tube was removed on March 18. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance.

The parents on Monday pressed again for President Bush, Congress and the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, to intervene to have the feeding tube reinserted. A small group of supporters protested outside the White House gates.

As Schiavo drew closer to death, extra police officers blocked the road in front of the Florida hospice, and an elementary school next door was closed so students could avoid the crowd.

President Bush's aides have said they have run out of legal options.

At least two more appeals filed by the state seeking the feeding tube's reconnection were pending, but those challenges were before a Florida appeals court that had rejected the governor's previous efforts in the case.

Does anyone else find that weird?

 

[Incognito]

No, he's nothing but a political opportunist.

 

[missAran]

No, he's nothing but a political opportunist.

Yeah, but he usually finds opportunities in liberal causes -- he is taking a pretty conservative stance on this one.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/29/national/29wire-jackson.html?hp

For the non-subscribers:


Does anyone else find that weird?

Not weird, just disappointing.

 

[Incognito]

Yeah, but he usually finds opportunities in liberal causes -- he is taking a pretty conservative stance on this one.

There's oppurtunity to be gained by supporting this, mainly from that little bloc of religious zealots.

 

[missAran]

Honestly, they should just lethally inject her -- starving her to death isn't fair.

 

[SuperPac]

This turns into more and more of a circus everyday. I'm waiting for the book deals and TV movies to be announced.

 

[Gantz]

Yay let's torture the vegetable some more!!

 

[Heezzi]

Pathetic.. You would never see a baby or the elderly starved court ordered starved and the only thing they have to do on is the she supposedly told the husband she wouldn't want to be kept alive artifically. Food + Water =\= Lifesupport as in a resperator.

 

[videogamer]

Pathetic.. You would never see a baby or the elderly starved court ordered starved and the only thing they have to do on is the she supposedly told the husband she wouldn't want to be kept alive artifically. Food + Water =\= Lifesupport as in a resperator.

If she could actually swallow and eat on her own, then she wouldn't need artificial life support.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

"I would never pull the feeding tube from my wife...or any of my many mistresses for that matter!"

 

[DarienA]

"I would never pull the feeding tube from my wife...or any of my many mistresses for that matter!"

Damn, beat me to it. :lol

Pathetic.. You would never see a baby or the elderly starved court ordered starved and the only thing they have to do on is the she supposedly told the husband she wouldn't want to be kept alive artifically. Food + Water =\= Lifesupport as in a resperator.

And yet Terry Schiavo is not the first adult who has had her feeding tube removed at the request of her LEGAL GUARDIAN(granted 15 years ago that status)... her husband... BTW good job in doing a half-assed job of following the story... she apparently told her husband and other friends according to most of the articles published that actually address that side of the story.

That should be the end of the f'n story.

 

[WedgeX]

Great, this could overshadow the selling of the donars list...

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/29/national/29wire-jackson.html?hp

For the non-subscribers:


Does anyone else find that weird?

Figuring that he is a Reverend, no. Also for those interested Ralph Nader also sides with the parents.

 

[borghe]

I think her husband is right and would imagine she really doesn't want to live that way...

HOWEVER

I am starting to become apalled by the actual way she is "being put out of her misery". she has been without food for 12 days now.. that isn't putting her out of her misery, that is torturing her (well, if she could actually be tortured). Pulling the plug is one thing. starving her to death for two weeks is pretty fucked up.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

I think her husband is right and would imagine she really doesn't want to live that way...

HOWEVER

I am starting to become apalled by the actual way she is "being put out of her misery". she has been without food for 12 days now.. that isn't putting her out of her misery, that is torturing her (well, if she could actually be tortured). Pulling the plug is one thing. starving her to death for two weeks is pretty fucked up.

If this hadn't become a media circus you probably never would have known. This is probably typical in these situations. It's not like they have an off switch.

 

[borghe]

If this hadn't become a media circus you probably never would have known. This is probably typical in these situations. It's not like they have an off switch.

fair enough. though I agree with the euthanasia comment... there is nothing fucking humane about letting someone starve or dehydrate to death. If you absolutely have to put someone out of their misery, do it humanely for christ sake.

 

[DarienA]

I think her husband is right and would imagine she really doesn't want to live that way...

HOWEVER

I am starting to become apalled by the actual way she is "being put out of her misery". she has been without food for 12 days now.. that isn't putting her out of her misery, that is torturing her (well, if she could actually be tortured). Pulling the plug is one thing. starving her to death for two weeks is pretty fucked up.

Dood she isn't the first adult to have their feeing tube removed... nor is this actually the first instance of a legal battle brewing over something like this.. I think there was a case in Indiana where parents had their daughter's (older child) tub removed and all hell broke loose.

 

[WedgeX]

HOWEVER

I am starting to become apalled by the actual way she is "being put out of her misery". she has been without food for 12 days now.. that isn't putting her out of her misery, that is torturing her (well, if she could actually be tortured). Pulling the plug is one thing. starving her to death for two weeks is pretty fucked up.

Incongnito posted this article first...but it still applies.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10C1EFC35580C738EDDAA0894DD404482

To many people, death by removing a feeding tube brings to mind the agony of starvation. But medical experts say that the process of dying that begins when food and fluids cease is relatively straightforward, and can cause little discomfort.

"From the data that is available, it is not a horrific thing at all," said Dr. Linda Emanuel, the founder of the Education for Physicians in End-of-Life Care Project at Northwestern University.

In fact, declining food and water is a common way that terminally ill patients end their lives, because it is less painful than violent suicide and requires no help from doctors.

...

Patients who are terminally ill and conscious and refuse food and drink at the end of life say that they do not generally experience pangs of hunger, since their bodies do not need much food. But they can suffer from dry mouth and other symptoms of dehydration that can be treated effectively.

Once food and water stop, death usually comes in about two weeks, and is caused by effects of dehydration, not the loss of nutrition, said Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of geriatrics and palliative care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "They generally slip into a peaceful coma," he said. "It's very quiet, it's very dignified - it's very gentle."

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

fair enough. though I agree with the euthanasia comment... there is nothing fucking humane about letting someone starve or dehydrate to death. If you absolutely have to put someone out of their misery, do it humanely for christ sake.

Well what do you think happens when you take someone off a resperatior? They suffocate, that's pretty morbid as well. Dying anyway you cut it is a physically traumatic situation.

 

[MIMIC]

Every headline says that she is "clinging to life."

Isn't that pretty contradictory to her supposedly being "lifeless?" And if so, then...

 

[mrmyth]

Pathetic.. You would never see a baby or the elderly starved court ordered starved and the only thing they have to do on is the she supposedly told the husband she wouldn't want to be kept alive artifically. Food + Water =\= Lifesupport as in a resperator.

Seriously, STFU until you familiarize yourself with the facts. Judges did not make this determination based solely on Michale Schiavo's word. There were multiple witnesses that testified to the fact that Terry Schiavo even went so far as to use the word 'tube' when describing what she didn't want.

And for a body that is incapable of swallowing on its own, food+water through a tube DOES equal life support.

For problably not the last fucking time - Terry Schiavo is not suffering.

1. She doesn't have the brain parts to register suffering.
2. Even if she did, her body is on a morphine drip.
3. Even if she did and the morphine failed, its a well-documented effect of having no mourishment that the body goes into a euphoric state until it passes away.

Terry Schiavo has been dead for 15 years. Somebody tell Jesse there are news cameras in Indonesia.

 

[bob_arctor]

Every headline says that she is "clinging to life."

Isn't that pretty contradictory to her supposedly being "lifeless?" And if so, then...

And if so, then the media is full of shit and likes to have the biggest circus possible which you can't get with factual headlines. Doctors have already said this process can last for weeks. The longer the better, as far as the media's concerned.

 

[Prince of Space]

He's only just now throwing his face before the cameras? Damn, someone's slowing up...

 

[missAran]

Figuring that he is a Reverend, no. Also for those interested Ralph Nader also sides with the parents.

Wow, that's interesting. I had no idea that Nader backed the parents. Any reason why?

 

[dem]

When is she going to fucking die already??? God I'm sick of this nonstory.

 

[3rdman]

Wow, that's interesting. I had no idea that Nader backed the parents. Any reason why?

You can't understand why a media whore would agree with them? Probably as logical as taking money from Republicans in last years election.

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

No big time politician is gonna side with the "killer".

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

What people miss is that a feeding tube is a medical procedure and is similar to being on a respirator. It is not a benign procedure, has risks and shouldn't be taken lightly. Of course the risks are small but if she could eat and swallow on her own, then you wouldn't need a feeding tube.

It is a tube inserted thru your skin into your stomach. It's relatively safe but still has risks. The complications include perforating your colon (that's right, liquid food into the shit tube) and all the subsequent risks of peritonitis (inflammation due to shit spilling into your belly). I tell you what, if she would have died from a severe case of peritonitis after trying to put in a feeding tube, her lawyers would have viewed it as a medical treatment; the medical treatment that can kill and would be suing their asses off. People downplay these procedures since they are usually successful and uneventful.

We should be respecting her wishes not to have her body forced thru countless procedures. What about the risk that the feeding tube may fall out and have to be reinserted? Or an abscess forming at the insertion site? All leading to additional medical treatment cuz her parents are still in denial? It borders on torture when she made it clear to her spouse what she wanted to happen in this case. Pro-lifers are too self absorbed in their quest to prolong the life of a body who can't feel or talk or eat or work. They don't really care about Terri Schiavo. They only really care about their feelings. Plenty of people at the end of their life are put on morphine drips not for their comfort, as they don't feel too much but to prophylatically treat the family who become distraught at the sight of someone who looks to be in pain.

This is fucking pathetic and Rev. Can't Get Right Jackson shows up 3 months late to parade in front of the cameras. What, did he not turn on the TV over the past year or so? What the fuck does he want now? I hope that Terri Schiavo can get her wish and die in peace away from these leeches that only wish to spread their agenda./vent

 

[Do The Mario]

Honestly, they should just lethally inject her -- starving her to death isn't fair.

I totally agree, we all know she is going to die why make it more painful then it has to be? If they did give her an injection this would have all blown over by now.

 

[Azrael]

If it's painful for her to be starved, or if it's torture for her to live in the condition that she is in, that would imply she's not a vegetable.

 

[Father_Brain]

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/3/29/184242/299

:lol :lol :lol

The woman's reaction is priceless.

 

[bob_arctor]

 

[boutrosinit]

*ahem*

http://durrrrr.blogspot.com/


*hides*

 

[Deleted member 1235]

what put this woman in this state originally?

Secondly why does everyone keep talking about suffering? From what I read, isn't everything but her brain stem largely liquid now? As in, this woman is essentially as smart as a jellyfish?