Should Terri Schiavo Live or Die?

I think some of you should see someone live this way day by day before you judge. I think it should have been the parents decision, and it could have been done with more medicine, but the parents didn't want it, but each case is different. When a body lays dorman for many many years, and has a g tube, it starts to bleed, the person doesn't digest well, bones start coming through the skin, legs have to be cut off, muscle mass is gone, it is a sad sad situation. No one should judge someone, only God, and if their heart is really for the person who has laid in bed for over 10 years and their body is discinerating, that is hard to watch. I think if her parents had taken her for a while they would have seen this. This should not be a general case decision for every patient, it should be an individualized decision for the condition of the patient with the family.

We have a precious daughter, Mollee, who is now 20 years of age. She would be classified as profoundly handicapped like Terri. We watched in horror and prayed continually while Terri and her family went through this terrible ordeal. WE are all children of God. He has placed each of us here for a reason and He and only He has the right to call us home when He chooses. When will they decide that Mollee has no value? We are getting older. Who will protect her?

Reply writen and sent by Jamie Mandy Nager 10th grade student

I complietly dissagree with the Doctors' decition of the removal of Terri's feeding tube. The message they let out in doing do was and IS discusting: The people responcible of 9/11 wouldn't have even recieved Terri's pounishment. Instead, this inoccent woman was, in the name of justice, Brutally Murdered in a form that is considered inhuman, all because her only crime was she was incapable of swallowing and had a two-timing @$$ of a husband who decided he didn't want her around anymore! And this is AMERICA!?!
I am still stunned that this behavior was tolerated. Shocked that there was even question as to weither she should be granted life or not. The answer should have been without a shadow of a doubt "Yes. She should and WILL live".
Before the accident, Mr. Schiavo has said Terri has told him that she would rather be dead than be on that form of life support. Weither that is true or not, I can tell you she DIDN'T say "Honey, if I have a bad accident, I wasn't you to have an afair with another women, have children, kill me in the most painful way possible and then deny me any comfort what so ever while I die. Thanks honey! I knew I could count on you!"
This action which happened so many years ago still is dispicable. By the actions of some of our government, they are sending out the message that Hitler had the right idea in the 1940s: All handiecaped people are better off dead.
My next door naghbor is mantally retarded. So are several members of our curch in Pennsylvania. The government has given us the message that if we wanted these people dead, we could do it in the most painful means possible and get away with it... Be considered heros for ridding the world of unwanted vegitables in the prosess.
Worse than that, Terri wasn't a vegitable when she was killed. She was able to talk when she died. There was no Will stating what Terri wanted, all there was was the word of mouth from her husband who was so faithful to his beloved wife, he had already had SEVERAL children with somone else. Well, if that's not love, I don't know what is!
Mr. Schiavo claimed he had his wife's best intarests in mind. In mind maybe. In actions, NO WAY. The Palm Sunday before she died, Mr. Schiavo had squashed any shred of a possibility that he had his wifes best intarests in mind when he denyed her communion: He said no food or liquids. Not even a drop and a crum in honor of her faith. That's not just bad, that's barbaric.
If nothing else, he was breaking the law in preventing someone to practice her religion. He, in the name of a so-called love, denied a suffering human being, not a vegitable, but a person, her religion, her comfort, and her life.
I can only pray that history doesn't repeat itself with this. America was soppost to be special above all other countries. We gave people rights others did't, we gave them freedom and life. Now we have begun to take that away. That's not right. In the name of Christ Jesus, our family and our Country, that's not right. And the government should have known better.

It is a crime both here on earth and in
the laws of God --to destroy a human
being because the person is ill. I don't care in what condition the person is in.
To starve Terri to death might be a warning to all of us if this was an
intentional experiment by the gov.t
to see what is coming up for the baby
boomers--unless we go to war with Terri's case and demand to open an
investigation and to over haul the courts system.
I was very suspicious that all the courts-up to the Supreme Court refused
to lend a helping hand to Terri--and
so patheticly unmoving just dammed her
to death by execution.

I could type a long comment, but the most important point of Terri's case is that the legal system has gotten into the life and death picture. Or, I should say ANOTHER life and death issue when it should have been left to her family to settle their own personal problems surrounding Terri's plight. Who are these people who think that they can impose their uncompassionate and unmerciful decisions on people who help to pay their wages? They are supposed our servants. We're not theirs. What are the limits of their judicial involvement anyway? Obviously, our legal system is wanting as far as compassion and mercy for other human beings, but the question is what are we and what can we do about it?

I disagree with the decision of the removal of Terri's feeding tube. Doctors took an oath to preserve, protect and to save lives. Most hospitals will not take a patient off any kind of life support unless, they have a Living Will stating their wishes. Word of mouth, is not good enough, know matter who you are. Knowone knows if Terri would have come out of her vegetative state. This shows lack of belief and denial of the possibilities. Michael had already moved on with his life. He should of given Terri's parents all rights to her and in making decisions for her. Every parent, that has children, will do everything to save thier child. This is nature. It was wrong that the Government got involved and made the decisions for this family. If the family wanted to spend the rest of their lives taking care of Terri, with her feeding tube, that was their decision to make. Not Michaels or the Governments. Put yourself in the shoes of Terri's parents. Could you do the same? In my opionion, this was not only murder but, against the oath of all doctors and not the will of God.

BS"D

I respectfully disagree with you.

I refer you to http://www.miami.edu/ethics2/schiavo/timeline.htm, a U. of Miami website which contains most of the legal documents in this matter.

As shown by the detailed decisions of Judge Greer and the State of Florida Appellate Court which sustained his decisions, 1. Terri Schiavo was never going to recover from her persistant vegetative state (most of her cerebrum had wasted away and been replaced by spinal fluid), and 2. she did not wish to live in such a state, as attested to by her husband, his brother and his sister-in-law.

Assuming these to be accurate statements, I would argue that no-one has the moral or legal right to deny her will.

The legal aspect is settled case law. The US Supreme Court ruled that a person (or that person's caregivers) had the right to refuse food or medication which would keep that person alive, if that person had evidenced that he/she would not wish that, in circumstances such as this. The Courts of the State of Florida had ruled similarly (see the BROWNING case on the U of Miami website.)

The question, then, is mainly moral in question. Since I am Jewish, I will answer your questions with another question.

You will doubtless recall the recent uproar when it came to light that Pope Pius XII had directed, after the end of the Holocaust/WWII, that all Jewish children in RCC hands who had been baptized should not be returned to their parents, because baptism could not be removed or taken back, and it was their duty to raise such a child as a good Catholic.

This was not just his arbitrary decision. It was good, solid RCC religious doctrine. You will doubtless recall the forced baptism of the Jews of Portugal at the end of the 15th century, shortly after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Some of them were eventually let go, but when they tried to go back to being Jews, they were mostly pursued by the Inquisition for years thereafter, under the same reasoning.

If Pius was wrong to force his will on these Jewish children, how do we have the right to force our will on Terri Schiavo? (Again, look at the U. of Miami site; that this was in fact her will isn’t open to serious question.)

Why do I think this way? I've just turned 58; I'm old enough to have been a school-child before prayer in public school was outlawed by the US Supreme Court. As an 8th grader, I was pressured to say the Lord’s Prayer in Homeroom (I refused). Later, as a teenager, I lived in the Bible Belt (Southern Indiana). "Are you a Christian?” I was asked. I answered, "No." "WHY NOT?" was the invariable response.

I don't think that anyone should be obliged to do anything which contradicts his/her beliefs, so long as the behavior in question doesn't keep others from doing what they want. Most especially, no Government should be given such power: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Thank you.

I found Dr Eisenberg's article very interesting and refreshing, since sometimes I find liberal or conservative Jewish persons supporting issues that contradict the teachings of the Torah. I teach nursing and have cared for patients over 25 years. I have learned by my own observations during those years, that anything that we do to hasten death is not ethical or moral and many times doctors and nurses do so as they give in to the family pressuring them rather than the patient's discomfort. This include placing someone who is near death on a Morphine drip, which I decided to never be a parcipator. Every life is precious and each of its days have been numbered. Everything occurs for a reason, not always for the person directly affected but for those involved with the person, such as the nurses, doctors, family and friends.
I am glad and thankful for someone like Dr Eisenberg, we need more people like him. G-d Bless him!

I am a parent of a severely handicapped daughter. She cannot communicate her feelings or needs, although she makes some noises similar to the tapes I heard of Terri Shiavo. She is fed, dressed, bathed and all her basis needs are cared for. She is treated with love and dignity and she is happy most of the time.
Who are we to judge who's life has value and whose life has no value? My daughter is just as special and beloved as my other three children are! She is a blessing to me and my family.
What a NIGHTMARE it would be for me if another person became the legal guardian of her and felt her life had no value.
If we are to believe that we have a soul, then even if a person is in a PVS state, their soul is whole and unblemished and thus their physical body needs to be treated with dignity by not starving a person to death or killig them by other means. I agree that, "We should always err on the side of life."
I wouldn't starve my pet turtle to death, yet it is somehow ok to starve and dehydrate a human with a disability to death?
Some say it is dignified to "allow someone to die." I agree that if the person is truely dying and nothing more can be done, then we make them as comfortable as possible during the process. But in Terry Shiavo case, she was not dying. The feeding tube was not equipment that uses "extrodinary means" to keep her alive. It was simply the way she could receive the nutrients she needed. Family members and medical doctors disagreed on what she would have wanted and on the value of her life. In this case we should choose the family members who want to care for her as her guardian and err on the side of life.
As a special education teacher, my students have a great deal of value to me and their parents or caregivers. They are mostly treated with dignity and love as full human beings. But, imagine if we evaluated each one to judge what percentage of a human being they are and thus how much value each person has depending on how severe the disease or disability is?
This "death judgement" philosophy is dangerous for families and our government to support.

Haven't you ever been in a situation where you were SURE that if confronted with that situation you would act/think one way, only to find out that when that situation DID occur you acted/thought exactly opposite (or very differently)?

Who are we to say how Terri really felt lying there for 14 years. Assuming that she really did say as claimed, perhaps she now would have said (given the chance), "I changed my mind on what I said before. Now I do not want to die!"

There are many documentations of people who have had a glimpse of heaven and the world to come. They understand that sometimes it is better to suffer in this world instead of the next; therefore THEY CHOOSE life with suffering instead of death.

Only G-d knew what thoughts she had in her head, and therefore only G-d should have had the right to grant her wish of life or death.

The law clearly states the husband had executive control. and according to the constitution of the united states, article 1 section 9 seperation of powers there is no one who can intervene except the judicial branch of gov"t. This is a tradegedy, never the less dont die or submit to passing under probate.

i feel like terri has lived long enough in this state. everyone keeps saying "terri loved live",i'm sure she did when she could live it. i find it hard to believe that someone who loved living life soo much would choose to live in a state of vegetation for years. i feel like her husband gave her and her family fair amount of time for her to recover from her injuries. i think his decision was very hard for him. only he knows what he and terri talked about and how she felt about situations like this. if her wish was for him to let her go and she didn't voice that opinion to her family then she left him in a really akward position. he loves terri and letting her to i'm sure was one of the hardest he's ever had to make and no one is making it any easier on him. terri is finally resting in the arms of jesus and she will forever be young and healthy and viberant. she will no longer be in the horrible state that she's lived in for soo many years. i'm happy for terri and that she is finally where she belongs to be where all angels belong to be and that is in heaven. years ago when this happened to terri she automatically became a special angel of the lord and today he finally came to get her...CONGRATULATIONS TERRI....you are finally home sweetheart. my prayers are with her family and michael and i hope that they all find peace with terri's death. and may God bless them all.

I live in Sydney Australia and I am so appalled at what America is doing to this woman. In my country if you allow an animal to die from dehydration & starvation you are very heavily fined if not jailed by our Legal system. I am horrified by this inhumane treatment of Terri. What political initiative is behind this? There are many things that America should hang its head in shame over but this, this is the worst, when they refuse to protect their own who cannot speak for themselves. Inhumane! barbaric, callous bloody disgusting!!! LET HER LIVE!!!

i don't understand why terri's husband just don't give her parents guardianship over their daughter. people are saying that terri is brain dead, and has been for some time. i don't beleive that, if that was true, she would not be able to breathe on her own, which she is doing so. to me it's murder. murder consist of taking someones life, and that is exactly what the courts and terri's husband is doing. they are taking her life from her, and yes that is murder. i believe that terri is alive not dead, and that she is being put to death by starvation, and that is wrong. no one has the right to take her life from her, not her husband and certainly not any judge.
i pray everyday, and everynight that terri isn't feeling anything, but i know in my heart that she is. only god knows what she's feeling and going through. it hurts me so much that someone can do this to a loved one. i don't think that terri's husband really loves his wife, i believe that he just wants to get on with his life with this woman that he's with, and that is why he is doing this.
may god be with terri's parents and friends during this difficult time. my heart goes out to terri and her family...may god be with you.

Does anyone remember way back... oh, ten years ago... when you needed to have a living will to request that your life be shortened?

And now, apparently, you need to have a living will to keep from being murdered.

And that's what it is, no matter what euphamism is used.

Because fur isn't murder. Meat isn't murder. Even abortion isn't murder.

But starving a helpless woman to death is, in fact, murder.

I believe it is still illegal to starve a domestic animal to death. Who could fail to see the cruelty there?

But for some reason, our society has completely abandoned the very first basis of civilization - the altruistic tendency of the humans to care for their weakest members.

How can we allow a woman to be put to death on the statements of one untrustworthy witness? And put to death in such a horrifying way. What crime has she committed to be denied food and water? Even Charles Manson gets 3 square meals a day.

How can any of us be sure we'll be cared for when we inevitably become helpless ourselves? Who speaks for the silent?

It's crucial differences like these in the way we view life that make me realize that there is no such thing as a judeo-christian ethic.

There are christians and catholics all around me who say they cannot understand why anyone would want to keep this woman alive. They tell me that even catholicism approves of withholding food and water in cases like this, where, they say, there is no hope of recovery.

What hubris. What an insult to the creator to suggest that He did not forsee the medical advances we would achieve with the brains he gave us. And to think there's anything He cannot heal. Or that there is any suffering without purpose, whether we understand the purpose or not.

I pray for this woman and I pray for every single one of us.

Because if we've abandoned the helpless, even five righteous men won't save us.

do everything in your power to stop the murder of terri schiavo by lawyers,judges, and her so-called husband. i'm a police officer who cares.

It is horrible that Terri Shiavo and her family had to endure what they went through. I hope Judge Greer is looked into. There is something not right with our country that we have to starve someone to death with all the evidence that there is to be shown but was denied. My prayers are with her and her family. I hope her husbands girl friend takes a look at the kind of morals her boyfriend has.

i can't understand how they could let her die that way. Sche should have had the right to live although i wouldn't have been worth it. i feel sorry for her parents

I believe that Terri should be given every chance to live. When god is ready for her to come home he will send for her whether she is on the feeding tube or no. I think the feeding tube she be reinserted and left alone. She obviously wants to live or she wouldn't have held on 13 days without food or water. Whoever denies for her tube to be reinserted should rot their lives away in prison or just let it be because god will punish those people one day. If her husband really loves her like he says he does then why isn't her trying every way possible to save her life? She can not be completely brain dead if she makes a little bit of a noice when people touch her or she hears them talking to her. All that should be a sign that she wants to live. There could be a miracle from god and she could get her brain back one day. Every day people that has been in comas for years and years just all of a sudden come out of it that should be enough hope that she will come out of it to keep her on the feeding tube and give her every chance to live. Just think about this how would you feel if you were her what would you want to happen to you.

i am astounded that terri is being starved to death and denied water, we would be arreste if we were known to do this to an animal... I am ashamed to say this occurred in my country which i would die for... we are the forebearers of human rights,,,this nation should hang itshead in shame for terri'S TREATMENT AND TO HER PARENTS... HER HUSBAND IS ONLY HER HUSBAND IN NAME AND BEING THAT HE HAS MOVED ON SHOULD HAVE THE DECENCY TO TURN HER OVER TO HER PARENTS WHO CONTINUE TO LOVE HER AND WHO BROUGHT HER INTO THE WORLD TO BEGIN WITH,,, IF SHE REALLY KNOWS NOTHING AS SO MANY HAVE PROCLAIMED THAN WHAT IS THE HARM OF ERRING ON THE SIDE OF LIFE AND BRINGING SOME PEACE AND LOVE TO HER FAMILY WHO ARE BEING TORTURED.. REMEMBER HITLER AND INFERIOR BEINGS AND REMEMBER IF WE DONT PROTECT THE INNOCENT IT COULD WELL BE YOU OR ME NEXT...

I think Micheal should give some slack
and let her parents take over, it's there daughter , Micheal has kids what if one of his kids got married and same
thing happens to Micheal that there husband or wifes wouldnt let Micheal do anything for his kids like he wont let terri parents,,, how would he feel????

Thank you for a truly ethical and medically informed analysis. Those two qualities have been conspicuously absent in most commentaries.

We who are blessed with all our faculties have a God-given responsibility to speak up for, nourish, and protect those who cannot care for themselves. Where much is given, much is required. I am my brother's keeper.

being a nurse for 25 years and treating these kind of patients i have little doubt that these people are suffering real suffering although not every case is the same.. there are definetly ways to measure suffering in patients like these so why not use them and then make decisions??? as for very elderly, even independent, patients that come in to the hospital with life threatening illness and are about to die (not because of cardiac arrest) and all the drs think that the patient will not survive do we still put them om respirators or do we let them die in peace? shana gottesman head nurse internal medicine hadassah mt scopus

I have been on a feeding tube for 4 years, in fear of my life because of the prevailing view of health care providers, and people in general, that my life is not worth living. I am paralyzed as a result of a stroke and have been in hospital a number of times in the last 4 years, each time in a coma and very close to death. Each time my health care proxy was greatly pressured to consent to a DNR and other tactics to allow me to die. I am Orthodox Jewish and I learned about the Jewish view about my right to die from Rabbis and their wives and children during the Holocaust. We all knew that they would die horrible painful deaths, and that their remaining short time left would be filled with torture and suffering. They taught us to fight for every minute of life and to endure any suffering, if it might prolong our lives. We were given dispensation to pray for quick death, when our suffering became unendurable, but at the same time to do whatever we could to prolong life. Even the most severely disabled among us were required to be kept alive, regardless of their suffering. Life I was taught is more precious than any of us can understand. I survived with my family, including my elderly and diabled parents. I devoted nearly sixty years to the care and prolongation of the lives of my some of the severely disabled members of my family. I was confident that my devotion to the prolongation of the lives of the severely disabled is required by my religion. I am a prisoner in my own paralyzed body, and I thank you for your efforts to save the life of your daughter and for providing her with a chance for loving involvement with you, while fighting her husband. The Holocaust taught me that that kind of involvement makes life precious and worth prolonging, regardless of the severity of her disability. I have now sadly learned that there are schools of thought in all religions that disagree with my view and argue that I am wrong to refuse to agree to a DNR. My family was persuaded to seek guardianship to allow them to sign a DNR, in my behalf, over my objections. That is apparently permitted in my state. Your fight for your daughter's life has given me hope that I might retain my right to prolong my life. Your fight is not about your daughter's wishes. Everyone realizes that if she could speak, she would side with you against her husband, regardless of her suffering. You probably have a living will to protect you from a relative or judge that might not want your life prolonged, some day. After all this publicity, your wishes on this matter are certainly widely known. Nonetheless, if a guardian were appointed over you, he would stand a very good chance of getting the right to sign a DNR in your behalf, over your objections and the objections of close relatives who agreed with you. If you became severely incapacitated, as I have, even if you could speak, as I can, the laws in most states will protect your right to die, based on the presumption that a person in that condition would not want their lives prolonged. Your family has gone a long way towards changing those laws. Thank you.

It is very unfortunate that according to US law Terri's life couldn't be spared, but I feel like there is something majorly wrong with US law if this kind of situation can pass. It is true that acoording to America's laws, Terri's husband has the right to put her to death, but there is a major issue of morality here. Laws have been corrected in the past due to moral issues (for exapmle Brown vs. Brady) so why not now?
I also firmly believe that she should be saved because the people who she interacts with (her family) consider her life valuable, so therefore who is Mr. Shiavo to decide her life isn't worth living? If America begins to reconsider the value of life of people in such a condition, you never know where the boundaries are set for determining peoples' worthiness of living life.

After spending 15 years in what most experts are calling a "persistent vegetative state," and being diagnosed with irreversible, serious brain damage, you would think Terri Schiavo's parents would have already exhausted any therapeutic possibilities long ago (if indeed such therapy for a "brain dead" person is available).

But lets just assume for a moment that she is still able to comprehend what's going on around her and she can still voluntarily offer some crude responses to such activity. If so, she surely must still be able to control a certain level of thought process on her own. And if such is the case, it can only mean that she is a prisoner of her own body and since the experts say she will never be get any better, she is,and she has been for 15 years, a prisoncner in solitary confinement.

I know what I'd do if my daughter's soul and spirit were hopelessly locked up in a body that her brain could no longer control. I would release her from her prison by removing the feeding tube and I would feel like I had done the right thing. While some outside the medical profession label this method as "barbaric," it is my understanding that removing the tube will lead to a comfortable and painless death. Mr. and Mrs. Schindler-------------->Do the Right Thing.

Joe Tamburin
Shadyside, Ohio

Terri Schiavo is being starved and dehydrated to death. It is a horrible, painful death. There is NO justification for what has been done to her. Take away your food and fluids and you would die, too. No human being has the right to kill another person unless it happens in the course of defending an attacker who is trying to kill you.

i think she should live she wasnt suffering when her feeding tube was in ... shes alive its not like she was on a machine to keep her breathing....she is able to breath on her own.. you people who took her off of her feeding tube are now making her suffer its not fair ... this is murder

I cannot agree with you. I am not Jewish, but this is not the point, since there ara Catholics as well as Protestants arguing the same way you do. Probably I misunderstand You : I get the impression You explain 'Life' as a merely biological function and human duty to take care of and protect it is restrained to keeping up this function. To me, a 'living' body or organism is not the essential property of 'life' To me, it's not the complex of physiological processes and reactions which are important, but the livelyness, the quickening power which comes from any being and tells one theat there is more than just a complex of biological conditions which reminds 'life' in a scientific sense. I agree that it is nearly impossible to judge reasonably whether there is 'livelyness' or not. I support the Idea that no one shall be authorized to force someone else to sacrifice his autonomy and lifetime to keep biological processes going on. If Somebody wants to keep biological processes going on for respect of life and considers it personally as a human duty then it is consequent to overtake all the burdens caused by the performance of such duty, mental, physical, financial in place of others who are overcharged by such burden for what reason ever. There is no point to blame others for what they cannot perform and it is somehow hypocrite to judge theoretically over situations which oneself is not forced to manage.

I admit I dont know if all the truth in Terri's case will ever be known, but I know some people making comments on this site don't have all the facts , and should make sure they have all the facts befor commenting on what someone can do and what someone else has not done.
The comment that terri can follow a ballon around the room might be misleading since that was a quick clip of a long video where she did not follow the ballon maybe it was shown to make you believe she can, maybe not. Also I have never heard anyone say she can speak even one word , maybe make sounds but never a word. It is also known that at frist Terri was given rehabilitation and her husband became a nurse to take care of his wife, but after many years came to conculson that she would never get better , which I believe unless God intervenes to heal her.Is it right??? ONLY GOD KNOWS WHAT TERRI WANTS RIGHT NOW < THE COURTS HAVE DECIDED WHAT SHE SAID THAN

The fact that Terri has hung on for this long should show that she wants to live if she didn't she would give up and die. It's wrong to stand by and let someone die so slowly and painfully. Terri should either have the tubes put back in and live or die fast without pain.

as a father of 7 children, i am disturbed by what has happened in florida with this case. this week i have asked all of my children to sign a form wether they would want life support in case of an emergency. i am sure that if i went in front of any one of these judges, with several friends and was being charged with driving without a license, no matter how many times my friends would say to the judge, he has one, they would not accept it without me showing a license, under any circumstance. why then has it been accepted without proof, that terri has told her husband she would not want life support?

I feel that Terry's husband is doing the right thing. It is hard to see someone you love laying there helpless. This has been going on for 15yrs. If she was going to improve it would have happend long before now, so let her rest in peace.
Her husband is strong for making this decision. It would be very difficult but people need to think of his feeling also. I would hope that ALL of her family can find some sort of peace within themselves.

Let HaShem bless all Tora scolars who teaches us right from wrong. And they say it is a murder to starve person to death.

There is an old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” So what do you use to judge a book? Its words of course… its message. What so fascinates me by all of the discussions I’ve seen on numerous sites is the wording of the comments. Live or die: one person says she deserves to die with dignity or that her husband has a right to carryout her death wish (if there was one) and another person approaches it from the opposite direction, that she has a right to live. The focus on death instead of life is most revealing.

This right to die vs: right to live mentality has clouded our reasoning and it really isn’t even the primary issue in this case except for Terri and her family. For the rest of us, at least until we find ourselves in the same situation, it is merely an emotional bone of contention. The vast majority of us only know what the media has decided to tell us… not just the quantity but quality of the story. From this we base our emotions and our beliefs regarding what should happen to Terri. We do Terri a grave disservice.

This poor woman is constantly described in the media as being in a permanent vegetative state. How many of us have even bothered to look up what doctors consider vegetative? I did, and she doesn’t fit the definition. Not even close. And what is meant by permanent? Some doctors claim she can interact with her environment. One person I know has poo-poo’d that statement with the simplistic observation that a carrot also interacts with its surroundings. Yes! It does… but it doesn’t follow a balloon around the room with its eyes. Terri can.

That carrot can’t speak… but Terri can. What you say, she can speak? Oh I know… it is only seven or eight words so I guess it doesn’t count. Terri might just be able to do better than that but rehabilitation has been withheld from her. That is the respect her loving husband has bestowed upon her since he received the close to two-million dollars earmarked to take care of her… not for his legal battle to keep from taking care of her, which is what he has used it for up to now.

This lady can’t eat or drink on her own… that is a fact. Neither can a baby, or a person who has lost all use of their arms. There are (former) staff members who have signed sworn statements that they have given her ice chips and she did not aspirate them into her lungs. So why can’t she have ice chips today? It is also reported that she has had Jello in the not too distant past. Why not now?

Why? Because it doesn’t fit in with what someone wants for his beloved wife, that’s why. Terri hasn’t been on life support since she left intensive care right after her alleged “accident” unless we are all on life support when we have dinner tonight.

Friends, we have yet again been fed a bunch of B.S. by the media and we are too lazy to check out the information and develop an informed opinion. Perhaps in this rush-rush-rush world we can be excused for not checking out every thing that comes to us through the “Boob Tube” no matter how tragic. What we cannot be excused from is projecting our ignorance into other people lives on the flimsy basis of a reporters two-minute cough and spit story on the evening NitWitness News..

Terri has enough problems right now… thankfully one of them isn’t that any of us will make this decision. If she were just a wee bit luckier, perhaps a certain judge and a certain loving husband wouldn’t be involved either.

Terri's life hangs in the balance, I am really having a hard time with this debate, here's why;
I lost both my parents to Cancer, their last few years were filled with terrable pain, nothing the Medical people tried helped them, there was no hope.
My parents loved life, loved their family and would have rather not been in this state they found themselves in, but they also felt they were ready to die, they prayed for death as they were very uncomfortable having others take care of them. They wanted to die with dignity.
During their last few months neither one was able to eat, drink or talk.
They starved to death, but it wasn't the starving that bothered them, but the cancer it's self.
They begged us, their children to help them die, but we had to stand by and watch them die a slow horrable death.
If they had been dogs or cats or some other animal, we could have helped them.
I know that if I was Terri I'd want to be helped to die, but as the law is now I'd likely have no say in the matter, this I think is very cruel and unfair.
Terri can't speak for herself, but if she were my daughter, I'd kiss her goodbye and allow her to die in peace.
Also I'm sure she loved her husband- out of respect to her I think it is unfair to judge him & his motives, it's been a long hard road for him also.

If Terry has a slim chance of recovery or not is not important.Life is always precious even under cicumstances like Terry's. No one has the right to decide when to die this rests solely in the hands of our Creator If the desicion is left into the hands of human beings desicions could be made to suite either another person or the state.Who is the best judge if not God Himself. Let no man try to be God,even if it is done with good intentions.

I think if she has people willing to be with her the feeding tube should stay. Her husband has went on with his life so why after 15 yrs is it so important now she die? Also he she be strapped to a chair and sat in her room and be forced to watch every minute of his wife death!

I think that Terri should live, even though she is 'unable' to interact with us who are not 'braindead' she still is a human being and I really feel sorry that she has to be caught in the middle of this. But it still is her life on the line.

The relation of the mind to the brain is not a matter of scientific knowledge - it is discussed in philosophy, but with no answers. In Jewish tradition, human life is even more importantly related to possession of a soul, but the soul doesn't come automatically with biological life. This was the meaning, perhaps, of God breathing into Adam to bring him fully alive. The facts we have indicate that Terri Shiavo's body is at least in some biological sense alive. But only the lower reflexes are there: no emotion or understanding or thought or love. Did her soul leave her body long ago? Is Terri Sciavo really there or is it only her mortal remains that breathes but doesn't in a human sense really live? I believe there is no way to know. It is a tragedy that this deeply personal human problen has become fodder for politicians and "news" programs.

I was Christian, now a Jewish proselyte and every time I read an article of certain complexity and depth like this one I remain speechless. As a former Christian I can compare the teachings of both christianism and Judaism, and despite the same goal of defending life at all cost in Judaism I found always a direct angle from the scriptures and not an interpretation. I just want to congratulate you Dr. for this article and bless HaShem for giving his chosen people all the wisdom to be the example to the nations. I will continue to pray that all the nations soon will hear.

We have started this petition, http://www.PetitionOnline.com/foodtube/petition.html to have Terris feeding tube reinserted. Please sign?

Ok, if you were in a bad crash like she was and you were plugged up to machines keeping you alive would you want to live?!?!?!? Yes?!?!?... personaly I wouldn't, unless you could find a cure within 6 months... however if there was no cure found by then I would want to have the plug pulled on me... Now then its inhuman to let a person die peacefully when there have been laying on deaths blade for years and years... that right there is inhuman... how would you like to be alive able to feel every poke and every inch of pain on you body but not being able to say anything... how would you feel if you had to spend you life unable to get up out of bed unable to feed yourself, unable to, tell your family that you loved them, unable to tell them your tired of die'in each day, how would you feel after you knew in the back of you mind there was no come'in back and you knew you were goin to die but your family kept you alive because they thought its what you would want when in reality its only what they want and their affraid to let go. After years of this pain you would start to lose your mind you would go insane your pain would be worst then before. If you ask me thats more inhumane then 2 weeks without food. God Bless Terri

Let Terri go for GOD sake. Just because the parents want to keep their daughter alive for their own sake doesn't mean that she should have to suffer. Just ask yourself or anyone with any self respect:
Would you want to live life the same way?

My sister has been in a very similar condition as Terri Shiavo. My sister had what the doctor's termed as "sudden death" in 1996. Fifteen minutes or so had passed before the perimedics were able to defibrulate and begin a heart beat. She has lost oxygen to her brain and is still in a nursing home due to her condition. She had had a feeding tube incerted but because of therapy she can now swallow. She has to have all of her food pureed and she can not feed herself. She was at the time and still is married. Her husband will not divorce her and is living with another woman and has not been to the nursing home to visit her in 5 years. I often wish I could talk to Terri's family because I feel so close to them and I pray for their family.

When it is the judiciary that caters to the whims of the times in so obvious and callous a fashion, when life is equated with the "pursuit of pleasure", then even the most benighted should realize that Sodom and Gomorrah are not a myth but a part of the here and noww.

They should let this woman die. There's is no doubt in my mind that she would not have chosen to be kept in a vegetative state for this long
. Her husband is right in asking for her tube to be removed....

Poor woman!!! It shouldn't even be a question, of course, she should live! She still has a chance to recover...a slim chance, but there is hope! She's not just dying right now, she is dying slowly of starvation! This is terrible! My heart goes out to her parents! I read that the husband is suppose to inherit a lot of money after her death...Should one's greed be a reason for a helpless innocent woman to die?! Is that even a question?! Just imagine that it's your child laying there, and her life is in judges' hands...and then calmly state that she should die, Hannah....God help that poor woman.

It's inhumane for people to starve someone to death.

How can the courts, judges step in and decide what's best for Terri? It should be left up to the Parents in the decision of Terri's fate. The husband can just get a divorce and leave them alone. He's cruel for wanting to let her STARVE TO DEATH!!! This has me very upset. How can they just pull her feeding tube out and just let her lay there and STARVE to death?? That is murder in my eyes. They say Terri cries, smiles and laughs. I don't think she's brain dead, damaged yes, but I strongly believe she has thoughts but just can't express them. I SAY REINSERT HER FEEDING TUBE NOW!!! Do they (Congress) have any idea how much Terri will suffer as she lies there and dies of starvation? Why don't they care? I just don't understand how they can pull a feeding tube out of this woman, but they are feeding death row inmates. What's that all about? Starve the death row inmates and save this Woman. She didn't commit any crimes. Meanwhile the prisons are over flowing with lifers and death row inmates. Starve them, they would deserve it. Sure would free up some space in the prison systems. We are always hearing about they need to build more prisons because the other ones don't have enough room to house these Murderer's and Sexual Predators and all the other people who commit crimes. Why should they get the luxuries of living, being fed, catered too?? This sickens me. I say whoever votes for her feeding tube to stay removed and not be reinserted should go to prison for MURDER!!!!! Because that is what they are doing to Terri. They are going to let her lay there and suffer a horrible death. Granted, we don't know what Terri is thinking, how much pain is she in now, if she is in pain. We don't know. But think about it like she's your own daughter. Would you want her to suffer a horrific death? I know I wouldn't, I am a Parent. If anything would ever happen to my children and there were no specifications left by them as to what should they do to them in an event like this. I'd be fighting for her life too just like her Parents are. Let God decide when her time is up, not Congress. I'm really mad about all of this and could go on and on about this. Most of the people in Congress are dirty, crooked any way. Why let people like that decide your childs fate. They care more about terrorists, murders, pedophilers and Rebuilding Irag while we sit here and watch our Men die over there, than they do an innocent Woman!! I SAY LET HER LIVE!!! and as for our Troops in Irag, pull em' out. I don't recall seeing anyone from Iraq coming here to rebuild what they destroyed. Pull our troops out and let the Iraq's figure out their own problems, let THEM rebuild their own country like us Americans had to do here. To sum this all up, SAVE TERRI SCHIAVO!! I'll keep praying for her and her Family. More prayers, the better. I just don't get how so many people don't care if she dies, BY STARVATION!!!! She's not on her death bed. So why are they treating her like this? Cruel, very Cruel people out there. I realize we ourselves can easily say we wouldn't want to live like Terri is. But think about her family. Just think about that. Focus on the pain they are going through. GOD BLESS the Schindler family. We'll be praying for your daughter.

I don't understand why some people choose to ignore the facts. There have been many cases where Terri responded to the people around her. Of course, the cruel media rarely finds it worthwhile to report any of these. Did you hear of the time (recently) that her parents' lawyer told her, "Terri, if you say 'I want to live' this will be all over." ? And in the cases where they told her to follow the balloon, she was only able to do it part of the time. Yet does anyone take into account that she was partially blinded by her brain damage. She only could follow the balloon to the extent she could see it. The whole question of allowing people in vegetative states to continue to live or not is irrelevant. She is alive and aware, and should get all the rights that every citizen is granted.

Terri has the right to live. She only needs a feeding tube. Is that too much to ask? Only Hashem gives and takes life. Not Michael Schiavo and not a court order. You wouldn't even starve a sick dog to death....

She will not suffer, as a lot of people are persuaded to think. Dehydration (which is ultimatetly what she will die from) is not a painful death for a patient in this situation. My mother recently passed away from alzhiemer's disease this very same way. She lost the ability to swallow, and instead of torturing her by extending her life by artificial means, we decided to let her die a peaceful death. I was there every day with her. While at times I thought, maybe she knows what's going on, the reality is SHE DIDN'T. She could no longer feel pain because of the severe damage to her brain. Her hands, like Terri's were posturized. She very peacefully went to sleep, and didn't wake up. She's no longer suffering. Her soul is free from her body. Doesn't Terri deserve that same respect?

I have watched the unfolding Terri Schiavo case on CNN with much concern.

I have the following difficulties with the recent (23 march I think) ruling of the Full Appeal Bench:

1). Terri's husband's evidence as to her wishes cannot be corroborated by ANY secondary source - we only have his word;

2). Terri had NO legal representation. Her husband is her appointed guardian (as her surviving spouse). I think its quite clear that there is a conflict of interest here. I find it laughable that in such matters that concern the life or death of a human being that the applicant and respondent are not represented by seperate legal council. The Judges have essentially only heard one side of the argument. With respect, while I do not doubt their capacity as Judges, I do think that to make a fair ruling they NEED to hear arguments from BOTH sides;

3). According to the medical professionals involved in her case, Terri's cerebral cortex (I'm not 100% sure that thats the correct spelling but I think its the front part of the brain near your forehead) has gradually been 'disintegrating'. My understanding is that this part of the brain deals with the assessment and subsequent reaction to outside stimuli (Thats the impression that Doctors interviewed on CNN left with me).
I watched a video clip on CNN of Terri's parents telling her 'sweetie we're gonna take you for a ride on the hospital grounds after lunch so you can get some fresh air'. Terris eyes lit up and she even managed a very very weak smile. I'm not a doctor, and I have no medical training, but it seems to me that, at least in that instance, which was fairly recent, Terri reacted to that outside stimuli.

4). Lastly, this matter needs to be distinguished, as the article states, from cases where the patient requires life support and essentially cannot live without the help of such life support. As the article makes clear, Terri is not on life support, she only has difficulty injesting food. Her heart and lungs function well and she CAN breath without assistance. She is clearly, NOT dying and is NOT 'on deaths door'. There have been some cases where patients in her condition, or similar condition, have not recovered fully. On the other hand, there have been cases where such patients have made some progress and recovered, some to a large extent and others less so. The point is simply this: surely we owe it to her to give her the benefit of the doubt, because truthfully, we simply do not know with any CLEAR certainty, whether she will recover or not (irrespective of the degree of that recovery)?

Starving someone to death, especially considering that she could go as long as 2 weeks without sustenance, is certainly going to cause them a lot more pain than they would otherwise be in in the normal course of events. The doctors, as I understand it, are not 100% clear whether she is in fact suffering any sustained pain.

The ruling of the Full Bench, with respect, is simply ridiculous, illogical in its reasoning, and above all, inhumane.

It is an awful thing what has happened to Terri. I'm sorry that she has to go through all this nonsense, and she is in my prayers. However, which is worse: a one to two week death, or a prolonged "life". Removing her tube was very wrong, but isn't reinserting the only thing keeping her on this planet also wrong? This is a real tough ethical problem, a fight between medicine and religion. I'm very torn. My spirituality tells me that she should be given a chance at life, but what sort of life would that be? True no one knows if she is suffering, or if she'll ever recover, but if various doctors don't believe she will then maybe it is best to let her spirit go Home to Heaven. I don't know, personally I wouldn't want to "live" the way she is living now. This whole story has motivated me to write down my intentions if I were in this situation, sign the paper and give it to my mother so she wont have to fight for the life of her child without knowing for sure if she is doing the right thing. God, please be with the Schiavo and Schindler familes now in their time of need.

I am terribly saddened by the courts decision to reject the appeal. To watch this go on and know that they are murdering that poor woman with her parents looking on in the name of "justice/law" makes me realize that what kind of people I live around. A good argument for Aliyah. Better yet may G-d please send Mashiach NOW..
oh I wonder how these so called judges would feel if they were examining this case without food or water for 3 days..
My heart is burning...

Yes,I thunk Terri should die. I'm not being rude or anything but i believe it is probley just her body alive.Her soul is really gone.Anyways, if that is not true, she probley does not wanna live that way, how yuold you fell if you had to love that way?I know if I was like Terri , I would want to die.Be in peace, in Heaven.

In my understanding about this tragic case, I've only come to one conclusion. In my opinion, Teri should have the right to live, but the fact remains that no matter what religion you are, you do not have the authority to decide whether a person should live or die, unless you have been appointed to by the person in question. Doctors and surgeons can try to save lives all they want, and still God sometimes intervenes. I believe that God will take Teri when he wants, and hasn't taken her yet, so she is here for a reason. Let us all support Teri's parents. They seem to be the only ones who know what is best for her. And to those who oppose the motion to keep Teri alive, ask not what you would want if it were you, ask yourself what you would do if it were your most loved one. And remember, there will be a judgement day for everyone, by someone with the correct authority.

Even after reading the related article, it's not clear to me how one can reach any conclusion, based on public information, as to whether or not Mrs. Schiavo falls into the category of goses, as described in that article, or whether such conclusions can only be made by a posek who has studied the specifics. Or pehaps Dr. Eisenberg is relying on an medical understanding of the feeding tube being used, in a way that lay people can't without further explanation.

I think I'm bothered more by the assertion that it's the "denial of the Jewish ideal of the fundamental value of life" driving the forces to remove the tube. I'm sure that's true of many of the people speaking out in public, but the issues seems so complex and subtle that I'm also sure there are others with great respect for life who differ solely on interpreting the details of the situation or who, perhaps as non-Jews, disagree with some of the distinctions made in halacha without disagreeing at all with the core values. While I don't believe I would want removal of the tube if I were in either Mr. or Mrs. Schiavo's situation (G_d forbid), I'm hesitant to judge those who do so harshly.

I think Terry should be allowed to die peacefully. No young woman wants to live like that.

I'm not a laywer, a doctor, nor a family member to Terri. I think she was suffering before she became in the state she is in now. She was bulimic which had so much to do with the state she is in now. Bulimic's are suffering for whatever reason they have in their life and she suffered before. Can we stop her suffering now?

If I was in the state that Terri is in I would hope that my family would not let me live like this especially it it is my wishes not to be keep alive like this. Terri has no quality of life let her go and stop suffering the eneviable

The culture of death has choosen Terri Schiavo as an example of a life not worth living. The fact she left no such direective, the confilct of interest of her husband and the love of her parents has made this the worst posible political choice for those seeking to advance the "right to die".

There are some poeple out here in this world that would love to stay alive on treatments and food tubes.My grandfather could have been one of them, he had the same condition that she had. He had a heart attack and he could havve stayed alive for many years after the fact but he never liked the hospital and he told my family that he didn't want to be kept alive by any other means than the natural ones. so when he got to the hospital we said our last wrods and he got his very last wish. ! So if she can blink her eyes to answer a question ask her if she would rather die or live !

This case really infuriates me!!! We are taking the life of a woman because she can't feed herself. Think about it. Terri is living and breathing on her own. There have people in death row longer than she's been in a "persistent vegetative state". A life is a life...let it be lived in whatever form it may be! She sees and smiles at the world around her, and to me, that is enough!

Why would that man want to kill terri,oh my golly,its not his daughter,he didnt give birth to her.Let the parents have her,to her husband he wants to kill her so he can carry on with his life,in that case,why dont he just close the door on her,let her live.To the parents of terri,my thoughts are with you and your family.I hope that maybe someday your life can be returned to terri.let peace be with this family please.As for her husband go live your own life and leave them in peace.

Yo remove the feeding tube was so cruel. I thought that it was written into the American Constitution that there should be 'no unusual or cruel punishment'

Why can't her husband just get a divorce and stop tormenting the Schindler family.

My very best wishes to them. Would it be unrealistic to pray for a miracle?

I think that terri should die... if you were like that in that Vegetated state would you want to live like that. if that was me i would want to die i wouldnt want to put myself and my famuily through that. shes never gonna come back to as we say "life" well thats my opinion and thats what i believe i know god knows what she wants and hell do the right thing.

There is no reason why Terri should'nt be able to live, its her right. There was no living will for her, so it should be her parents right to keep her if they so wish.Her mom gave birth to her not her husband.its simply murder when they took her off her feeding tube!!

In New York hospitals, patients like Terri are being killed all the time. Some times even when the patients or their health care proxies desperately want to prolong life, medical care is declared futile and patients are being allowed to die, in order to protect them from the prolongation of a life that their health care providers would not be willing to live. We are aware of many deaths of orthodox Jewish patients who, with their loved ones, fought for the prolongation of their lives despite extreme pressure from hospitals to allow them to die. The hospitals often benefit financially from these deaths because prolongation of hospital stays are often not fully covered by any form of health insurance, in such cases. Are such deaths as common in other cities?

My Feeling on all this is I pray for all in volved . Terry's Husband thinks he is doing the right thing by trying to carry out his wifes wishes . But the time for that has long passed.she is Not Brain dead her body functions it is her mind that can not communicate . She is to me like an infant they cannot feed them selves we must provide them with nutrician or they would starve to death.The TErry that was is no longer there from the brain damage she does not know she is in a vegitavive state she feels and survives and just is just like a baby she is a perpetual infant to purposly withold food from an infant would be wrong.

I hope that everyone who watches this tragedy unfold finds compassion in your hearts for everyone involved in making such heart wrenching decision and remembers to save your own loved ones from being put in a similar situation by making your own living will and making sure your family members are all very clear about your wishes In such circumstances.
1989 was a very hard year for my family. My grandparents, whom we all adored, both became very ill. My grandmother fell and broke her him and had to undergo surgery to fix it. When she woke up she was a different person. According to the doctors, she had Alzheimer disease and the anesthesia had caused it to progress much faster than normal. We did all we could to make her comfortable as we watched her deteriorate over the next year. My mother moved into my grandparents' house to act as a full time nurse for her mother because my grandfather was not strong enough to care for her alone.
About 4 months after my grandmother's fall, my grandfather was working outside in his beloved garden when he began to have chest pains. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital where they discovered blocked arteries to his heart. At first we were told that they were going to try medication because at 86 years old they did not believe he was strong enough for open heart surgery. Within a few days the doctors had changed their minds and said with out the surgery he would only have a few days to live. They performed a quadruple bypass on him and he seemed to come through it ok. Unfortunately, a few days after surgery they discovered that his kidneys were not functioning properly. We asked what could be done. The doctors said normally they would do dialysis, but because of his age and health they would not consider it. After a couple of days they changed their minds and started him on dialysis. During the dialysis he had a stroke and slipped into a coma. We were told that the longer he stayed in a coma the less likely he would be to wake up. My mother was left with the decision of what steps we should take to keep my grandfather alive. Luckily, she was an only child so there was no other family to argue with her, to make her second guess herself, and to make the most difficult decisions of her life even more difficult. She decided to let them hook up a machine that would help him to breathe but would not breathe for him. She decided against any machine that would keep his heart pumping artificially, and issued a "Do Not Resuscitate" order. And we waited and hoped that he would wake up. After about a week of being in a coma the doctors were pretty sure he was not going to wake up again. They noticed that the blood circulation in one of his legs was not good. They were afraid of gangrene setting in and wanted to amputate his leg. My mother said no. She said if the amputation was not going to help him come back, she wanted him to die in one piece. My grandfather lived in a coma for 3 months and then stopped breathing.
My mother continued to care for my grandmother at home for 4 months before finally putting her into a nursing home. By the time she was in the nursing home, she could no longer control her bladder or bowels, she did not recognize anyone around her, even her only daughter, She was having trouble swallowing and was only conscience for short periods of time, during which she was usually terrified. After 2 weeks of being in the nursing home, they wanted to put in a feeding tube because she could no longer swallow enough food to sustain her. My mother said no. By this time my grandmother was curled up in a fetal position wearing a diaper. When I went to visit she did not open her eyes or acknowledge my presence in any way. Six days later she died.
One of the first things my parents did after my grandmother passed away was to write living wills for themselves so that their 5 children would never be faced with the terrible decisions that she had to make.
In 2001, my mother was diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer and was given about 8 months to live. She reminded us all again of her wishes for us to let her go when the time came. A few days after the diagnosis she was sent home with the phone number for hospice. It was Friday, the hospice had set up all the physical things she needed like her hospital bed, her oxygen machine, and everything we needed to feed her through the feeding tube that was placed in her stomach. My mother hated that feeding tube. And she hated the breathing treatments that the doctor said she needed to keep her from getting pneumonia. I would get her breathing treatment ready and she would cry, "do I have to do that?" She would say, "can't we skip it just this once?" But I was adamant. I felt like she was giving up and I was not ready to loose my mother. I needed her. On Sunday night, I was filling up her feeding bag as usual. She looked at me with very sad eyes and asked if we could please skip this one feeding. I explained how she needed the food so her body would get strong and she would feel better. She just sighed and looked away. I finished hooking up the tube and left her to get some sleep. A few hours later, my father came into my room and told me that my mother needed me, which I thought was strange because she had a monitor so that I could hear her if she needed anything. When I got to her room, she had passed away. She had taken the oxygen tube away from her nose and held it in her hand, but the feeding pump was still pumping food into her stomach. The picture of that machine that she hated pumping food into the stomach of my dead mother was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen, and the image still haunts me today. I wish more than anything that I had followed her wishes and let her die in piece. In the end, I wasn't as strong as she had been for her parents, and I will regret that for the rest of my life.
I truly believe that Terri Schiavo's Parents and husband all believe they are doing what is best for Terri. I don't know Terri or her family and so I would not presume to know what is best for her. I only know that if I were in a vegetative state, I would not want any special measure taken to force me to continue to live that way. I do consider a feeding tube to be medical treatment. It is a fatal medical condition that makes a person unable to eat or drink, just like it would be a fatal medical condition that would make them unable to breathe. If a person requires a machine to breathe, then they are not breathing the machine is forcing air into their lungs. If a person is unable to swallow, then they are not eating, a machine is forcing nutrients into their body the same way a machine can force you to breathe or force your heart to continue to beat. I do not condone forcing someone to live if the rest of his or her life is going to be in a vegetative state.
I have seen many people state that we should let G_d take her when he is ready. It seems to me that G_d is trying to take her by taking away her ability to eat and drink. It is man who is trying to force feed her to keep her alive. If you believe in G_d, and you believe in heaven, how can you possibly believe it is better to live as a vegetable on earth than to be in heaven with G_d?
I have also heard many people talk about how starvation is such a horrible way to die. Anyone who has ever fasted knows that hunger pains only last for the first few days and then they are gone. And the best way I have ever found to deal with hunger pains, aside from eating of course, is to go to sleep when they get bad and when you wake up they are gone. I do not think that starvation would be such a bad way to go for someone who is always asleep.
Whatever happens, my heart goes out to all who love Terri.

As a believer in a power we cannot comprehend I too am loath to condemn Terri Shiavo to death.I have great faith in the teaching of our Jewish brothers and was greatful to see that I am of like mind with them.Thank You for being there.

You know, it is getting pretty sad where we are. Is our own life even ours? Or is it simply on loan from God? Do we have a right to say that we would want to live or die with a living will.
I really don't know if she should live or die. This is a cruel world and either choice is appropriatly a cruel one. Continue being trapped in your own fleshly body till you die of something or starve to death now. May the Lord decide.

Why not just give Terri a lethal injection! We have more compassion for Scottt Peterson! Starving Terri is cruel and unusual punishment. Why doesn't her husband just divorce her and let her parents take care of thier daughter as they see fit. They have more of a relationship with Terri than he does at this point. Someone has to fight for the right to life for people who cannot defend themselves.

I AM A HOSPICE NURSE OF 10 YEARS. UNLESS SHE HAS A LIFE TREATENING DISEASE WHICH WOULD NATURALLY TAKE HER LIFE IN 6 MONTHS., SHE'S NOT EVEN HOSPICE APPROPRIATE, LET ALONE KILL HER

Michael lost the right to be the guardian when he started a relationship w/another woman......definite conflict of interest!
When he was in court to win over a million dollars he needed the money for her rehabilitation. He wanted to take her home (What! with the other woman?!) & love her forever. When he won the money, all of a sudden he remembered she wanted to die. Folks, what would you want for your daughter?

Husband should not be allowed to remove her tube. There was never anything put in writeing this is the number one reason. Also he is remarried and her family wants to take care of her. Her mother and father should be in control. Thats there daugther and he should not have any control over her while being he has moved on with his life.It bothers me that he will not let the parents of terrie take care of her. I dont trust the husband and dont understand why he is trying so hard to take her life. Something does not smile wright.I dont trust her husband. I think he is trying to cover something up.It also bothers me that the judge and congress are just trusting words he says that she wanted to die.There to much resonable dought here he could be lieing and that enough not to take out the tube. He has a new life and at the end of the day that there daughter. And they want to take care of her.The husband shows no respect for the mother and father. But if you put all these things aside. The tube should stay in just because it was never put in writeing.If they dont put the tube back in i think its MURDER.

I think that it is completly outragious that ANYONE would starve someone to "DEATH" the ASPCA doesnt even starve vicious animals. You as a human must think as if it were u. Nobody NOBODY can take someones life! especially if their only defence is inconvieniance......as for her husband he is married going on with his own life! he needs to leave her alone and let her family decide whats best for her!!! We spend all this time convicting people of murder and saying how wrong it is and yet we contridict ourselves and say OK FINE KILL HER!its ok she is a vegetable!

I just don't understand it, we are not talking about artificial life support. This is starving Terri to death. I think we should remove food from Terri's husband.

To all involved in the starvation of Terri Schiavo:

When did you ever get the ideal that you have the right to end the life of this woman. The life of all who are disabled have the right to life, and for all of you to start playing GOD and have this woman die of starvation has really shown me that America is not free, when you have the right to dicitate who lives and dies. Apparently you have forgotten who put you in office to begin with, because we assumed you would have our best interest in heart, but you have all deceived us in what your true intentions are.

How many of you have talked about not being kept alive with machines, and how many of you have a living will to make your wishes known. I am not all that convinced that the conversation happened between Terri and Michael, and if he did, why didn't Terri have a living will done. I do know that Catholics hold life to be a precious gift, and for you to turn your back on the beliefs that you were raised with in preserving life I find that Terri still fighting to be here is a sign that GOD is not ready for her yet. Michael has his motives in waiting her to die and that needs to be taken into consideration when you decide to starve Terri.

If any of you are a believer of GOD, you know this is not what he wants for his children. Are you willing to die for your beliefs in putting this women through what we all know is a horrific way to die. If you think this is the best thing for Terri, I hope that I don't have you deciding my fate.

The Value of Life can only be estimated by its Spiritual Relationship to GOD.

The Great test of a man's Character is his Tongue.

Carelessness in Spiritual Matters is a Crime.

When does the Law start benefiting man, women and children and not at the discretion of the people in the government that presume to do this on our behalf. You need to start listening to the very people that put you in office, and start doing what you know in your heart is right for Terri. LET HER LIVE!!!!

Terri should have every opportunity to get as well as possible and in her parents care. If this horrible thing is done we will be likened to another country and another time, I am afraid. No one will be safe, the elderly, handicapped, the non - productive, the poor, the ill.

I, myself would not choose to live like Terri is living but if her parents find some comfort in taking care of her, let them. Why can't her husband divorce her?

As a catholic I join my Jewish brothers in condeming the murder of Teri Shiavo by starvation. All she needs is food and medical help to stay alive. we cannot discard this human life because her husband, for some reason, wants her dead. This is the first step toword killing of the sick and infirm in this country. We are on this earth to know, love and serve G-d not to destroy His creations. I am going to call my representitives and inform them of my concern. Every man and woman in the US should be crying out to the government stop this insanity.

If it takes one to two weeks for her to die once the tube is removed, she will starve. That is a very long time to suffer, whether she is in a vegetative state or not. It should not be removed, as it is a cruel form of euthanasia. How could anyone even consider something like this and feel good about themselves later?

Shalom

I was working with braindamaged kids in Israel for a while and went with some of them until they died. And I do think, Hallacha or not, that after such a long time of pain and suffering, Terri should have the right to go. I do not believe, that her life is what she wanted it to be and to live. No matter what judaism says, I would NEVER agree to let someone in my family suffer for so long.

Lets say, she "wakes" up. What life will she have??? Nothing. She missed already 15 years and she will never be able to live a normal life. She will always need help and no one can honestly tell me, that he would choose this kind of life for himself if he would know in advance. If someone says, this is g-d's will, well... g-d gave us brain to choose, thats how it is written in the torah. He made us "like" angels, just with the will to choose good from bad. So, I do believe, that it is on us to help Terri ending this suffering NOW.

Not by starvation of course, but there should be a different way, to help her find her way to Olam Ha'Ba.

My prayers go with her and that she can fall asleep peacefully forever.

Shabbat Shalom from Israel

G. M.

For anyone in favor of allowing this woman to die by starvation without a legal form signed by her. I challenge you all to volunteer at a elderly home for one week. Then tell me what you think about the judgment of the medical community. I challenge you to volunteer at a rehabilitation center for one week. Work with paraplegics, quadriplegics, head trauma patients, and burn patients. Then tell me what the chances of recovery are. Just to note, I volunteered at a rehab center for the disable for 5 years. I have seen many people with my own eyes, who's families were told they would never recover, later walk out and live independently. I ask you, if your parents had hope, if they were suffering, what would you want from your spouse? Would you want your spouse to pursue without concern or would you want your spouse to care about your loved ones feelings? Why is she being starved to death? Even those who agree with this decision, say almost passively, it may take up to 14 days or more for her to die! How can you possibly know what it feels like to starve to death? I am sure many of you have felt bad if you missed breakfast! If you don't think it is painful, then why don't you fast for a week. Just wet your lips, I am sure you will be fine. They say she will be at peace, sleeping, and she will not suffer. Let me ask you, in your sleep, have you ever felt scared, have you ever felt in pain, do you feel nothing when you sleep? I think you all know that answer ... how dare you make light of the murder of this woman. How dare you question her parents, who are you people, do you even know her? I am certain you will never know her as her parents do. Have you seen the video clips, it is obvious to me that she is very much alive and expressive. Have a nice dinner tonight, I hope you all enjoy it and be thankful that you can feed yourselves.

Whose life is it anyway? The politicians have become the pawns of the activist right and they care more about pandering to the vocal minority than to what Terri wanted. Our Constitution was created to protect us from government; and the Florida legislature along with Gov. Bush are clear examples of what the founders of this great nation feared and that is why we the rule of law and respect for the rights of the individual and the separation of powers needs to be respected.

I think what her parents and brother are doing is dispicable. They're not doing it out of love for Terri, but for hate of their son-in-law. These pictures they show of her on TV are old and I believe they are staged! The Court has determined she is in a persistent vegetative state and cannot be rehabilitated. Why can't her parents let her go in peach.

GOD WILL TAKE HER WHEN HE IS READY.IT IS OUR JOB TO DO THE BEST THAT WE CAN TO KEEP PEOPLE ALIVE AS LONG AS WE CAN. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH KEEPING HER ALIVE? MONEY? LOOK AT THE MONEY THAT WE PUT OUT EACH YEAR FOR THE UPKEEP OF PRISONERS.

To Mary Taylor - for you to comment like you did is dispicable. You don't know Terri or her parents. It's ironic how Michael remembered Terri's death decision after he was awarded medical malpractice money on Terri's behalf and the only witnesses he has are his brothers. It's also dispicable how Michael confines Terri to a stale room and her parents are unable to give her simple pleasures like fresh air enjoying the sunshine. There are many sides to Terri's situation. We need to pray for her.

Terri should not die in the hands of her
estranged husbands wishes.... he is estranged to her because he lives with another woman and fathers her children....he does not look after Terri's best interest....if he really cares about her he would get a legal divorce and let her parents take care of her. Many people have visited her and say she is very much aware of her surroundings... this is not the meaning of vegative state. The courts are making this more complicated than what it is...she did not put this in writing, there is such a doc as proxy, but it must be in the best interest of the patient... she is not brain dead or lives on a ventilator.... she still has life in her... let her live it till she passes in the natural way....

Why do we treat inmates on death row better than this woman? Would you starve a prisoner to death? No, alot of people would cry out and someone would be punished. What does this husband have to hide? When you love someone you exercise every possible avenue before you call it quits. This woman is not brain dead, she is just unable to eat like everyone else. Is it not murder if you starve someone to death? Why would you end her therapy if she were making progress, or the possibility existed? I do believe her parents have her interests at heart. Her husband has already moved on and has children with another woman, how in the world could someone believe he has her best interests at heart? Why has no one investigated what put her in this state in the first place? Regardless of the questionable circumstances, she is a human being, and deserves a chance at life. What if she was your daughter or sister? How hard would you fight to give her a chance?

Dear sir/madam,
I am a registered nurse and work in the care industry. I feel very strongly about your article on Terri Schiavo. I believe that Terri Schiavo should live because she has lasted 15years in the state she is in now and deserves to see her family for as long as she can and if she is going to die let nature do it not people. Because if her husband loves her so much then he will wait for her to die on her own terms not let her die by starving. And also because the doctors and husband have been taking out her eating tube she has been suffering for a week just why people make up there mind weather she should die or not so I think she should live longer because she went through starvation, when she didn’t need too.
from chelsie leigh

I think if I were in Terri's place I would want to have the tube removed, because I don't want to live that way knowing that I won't get any better. what kind of life is that? some people are very indipendant and to be in a vegitative state is not the life I would want. Not knowing what you're future will be is pretty scary if you're nort fully awake. if you're in that kind of state for that long your future does not look good, so I would want to have the tube pulled.

I do believe that those that want to have the feeding tube removed are ignoring vital information and are interfering with her right to live, and using irrelevant information to pursuade people to side with them when it's not even apart of her case. There is no justification for the decisions they are making.

Your ethics on the subject of life and death issues is to be commended. One might believe the right or wrong of a determination is easily answered.

Today we are looking at the right of Terri Shiavo to continue to have life.

Judge George Greer, Michael Schiavo and his "euthanasia-believing" lawyer, George Felos have insisted that Terri Schiavo "wants to die".

Does any legislature, Florida and/or U.S. have the power to overrule this judge's decree? About 4 days left till she begins to starve to death.

No one I've heard on any news program have examined the What If question. Of course I can't listen to them all and if you've already addressed this question, I apologize. But, What If Terri is caused do die?
Will this open the doors to unintended consequences where others in similar situations can be starved to death?
Will Nursing Homes begin emptying beds to bring in patients who require less care and pay more?
Will there be a slippery slope and a price to pay on our societies morays?

Let this woman die with dignity. Shame on Gov Bush and her parents. I would never put my childs picture on national TV when he or she was ill. Let her go in peace. If it were me..I would not care if I had to starve 3 weeks in order to die. I would just want to be in peace. I would not wish that quailty of life on anyone.

I have a daughter who is brain injured from a car accident (5/5/85).I am her caregiver and she also has a feeding tube.what a horror it would be to me to starve Terri! it would be murder.I remember last year when they removed her feeding tube and I couldn't even eat myself.everytime I would tube feed my daughter I was reminded of innocent Terri being starved.

I already thought that Terri should be kept alive, and now I'm even more sure. Thanks a lot!

I hope that Terri's parents could read this. There is a little known treatment call neurofeedback (one of the biofeedbacks). It's non-invasive, but very effective for conditions related the the brain and central nervous system. I won't go into great detail here, but if they would look in the phone book under biofeedback they can find a therapist. Or they can find one by checking the Internet look for neurofeedback, good luck.

I agree that Terri should be given the chance to be rehabilitated. Would all these people willing to "murder" her feel the same, if Terri were their daughter. A parent gives life to their children and from the moment of conception it is up to them to protect that child. Terri's parents are not only fighting for themselves but they are fighting to protect the precious gift given them by God. Pure instinct alone would not let any good parent let anyone take away the greatest thing a person can be given. Your children are the most precious thing you can ever receive. If God has not taken Terri by now and especially after the 6 days she spent without the feeding tube then what gives any person, husband or judge the right to take away her life. Terri is where she is not because she did something wrong but because someone else put her there. She should be given the chance to become the person she was meant to be and not a statistic of "murder".

Her Parents want to take care of her I Can't beleive that a Judge would let her husband take the feeding tub from he is going to kill her by starving her. She is alive she smiles her eyes move she is alive and her parent what to care for her they should have the right to take care of her. He can Just asked the Judge to grant a divorce not kill her. Then he can get on with his life and and her parent can care for her
I pray that her parent will win there fight for her life.

Only God can take a life. We are all here for a time, Terri is still alive. She will die when its her time. Not by someone killing her.

In June my little brother passed away. He was thirty eight years old when he passed away. He lived all his life in the similiar situation that Terri is now. He needed 24 hour care all his life. My mother and father raised him at home. We all cared for him and loved him dearly. He was the best gift our family ever had. Without a word he taught me humility, compasion, courage and love. I believe what they are going to do to Terri is morally cruel and outrageous.God forgive us is they follow through with this murder!

If a person of ill fate, has lost ALL quailty of life; Then it should be an individual preference or chose to whether or not they continue with their life! We think nothing of ending a life of an animal, to end their suffering and pain! We call this "The Humain thing to do"! Yet it is considered "Humain" to allow Human Life Suffering??? Is there something wrong with this Picture????????

It is truly amazing the flurry of misinformation that swirls around Terri Schiavo. When all is said and done it boils down to whether we as a society feel good about dehydrating and starving the infirmed to death. I, for one, am completely uncomfortable with that notion. It is simply a murderous act. The courts have defined nutrition and hydration as medical treatment. That's just another sad illustration of how out-of-control our courts have become. Common sense and a sense of morality have been tossed out the window in support of a dark and evil agenda -- the culture of death. I suppose the courts would find that all 6 billion+ people alive today are in need of medical treatment every time we order up a value meal at Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's and the like. That's complete nonsense. Nutrition and hydration is exactly that! We all need to eat and drink to stay alive - the water shouldn't be muddied because people in Terri's condition receive it through a tube. She is not brain dead, however it seems her "crime" is being impaired to the point that she cannot communicate or at least not consistently so. I know of a lot of men who choose not to respond to their wives when asked to take out the trash. That they display "selective hearing" should we condemn them to starvation and dehydration? America, we are on a slippery slope that started in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court said it was legal to dismember and rip babies from their mother's womb. If we fail to find the fortitude to start doing right and executing justice, things will only get worse from here. If Terri is, in fact, dehydrated and starved to death as Judge Greer has ordered to begin March 18, 2005, I wonder which one of the thousands of Florida residents in nursing homes will be next?

When did the caretaker become the "giver and taker of life" I cannot imagine anything more cruel than to allow a living being to STARVE to death, this is SICK ! If she is able to breathe in her own she should be fed the same way we feed those who cannot feed themselves like ... our babies and the aged , LET HER LIVE, let her parents and family take care of her.

If the husband has children with another woman - why is he still married to her (Teri) what doe she have to GAIN? What self respecting woman would have children with a man still married and then not insist he divorce and marry her - the husband's motives for ending her life and the pain and prejudice he puts his children and their mother through are questionable.

Hedoes not respect her by having kids with someone else (whi he obvisouly is not married to) yet he holds on to her ? for What ????? I smell a rat

I was in the same situation with my father 14 years ago. The doctors claimed he was in a persistive vegitative state. But he at times , appropriately responded to me and spoke. But they were determined to end his so called suffering, and my family against my wishes allowed him to have his feeding tube removed. He was not on a respirator. It took him nearly 3 weeks to die. It was slow and painful for him and for me. My husband and son and I know that it was the wrong thing to do, and our advance directives include food and water, the basic necessaties of life. When it's someone's time to leave this world, god will take them no matter if they are on a feeding tube or not.

I don't see why the husband doesn't

get a divorce and go on with his life.

The family says they just want to take

care of their daughter. I sympathize with both sides, but seems like the

husband is a little too eager for her to die. I understand he already has

some children with another woman.

I have been a school bus driver for special ed students who have less response than Terri. Starving her to death is murder, pure and simple. Judge Greer should recuse himself and let a normal judge review this case. Let the parents have the responsibility for her and whatever expense that is invoved. This should never have gotten into a judicial matter. The woman is mentally damaged but not brain dead. Pulling the feeding tube is the most horrific type of murder, even convicts get an easier death.

I wonder if the ACLU and leftest judges would have pulled the breathing tube of the Pope, or denied him food and water?

As a german jew I am disgusted with all the comments about letting Terri die.
First - you simply do NOT know HER point of view of the situation.
Second - you say "let her die" when you mean "KILL HER!" (you have to starve her or to poison her)
And third, with the 3rd Reich in mind - what do you call a "normal life"???

I loved what Rox wrote in the last line "May Hashem give Terri what SHE and her family needs." That's the point.

Shabbat Shalom,
Liora.

i enjoyed the article - it helped to clarify this issue

Thank you for your very specific article, I am inclined to copy it for my files and reread it due to its thought provoking nature.

Certainly you give the reader reason to amply consider their responsibilities in matters of this nature.

Perhaps it should be approached: God gives life; only God should take it away. Every moment, whether in pain or joy, bitter or sweet, is a gift of God. Thank God.

My uncle has Cerebral Palsy and has been on a feeding tube for the last three years. He does not lead a "normal life" by any means, but he loves us and we love him. It is not enough to break down human life into legal or ethical discourse. Rather, we must look into the eyes of our loved ones, and know they are there.

After reading this article, I have to say that even though we may not know what's going on in Terri's head (unfortunately), starvation is NOT the right way to end this.

I am no authority, but if it were simple enough to withhold a drug to allow her death I'd say fine. But starvation is a long, slow, terrible way to die no matter what cognitive function a person has.

But on the other hand.....Aren't feeding tubes and breathing machines NOT "meant to reverse the patient's condition"? When do feeding tubes and breathing machines become futile in themselves? In times before medical science it would have been totally acceptable to allow people such as Terri to pass because there were no machines to keep people alive. But now it seems letting machines do their jobs or not have become more important than patients.

I'm still truly undecided about this....mostly because I personally would not want to live like Terri, and as said before in another response, I also feel I have no "duty" to live (which is a good way to word it) in extreme situations such as this. But this situation definitely begs people to have a living, notarized, and halachic will prepared.

Personally there is not much I can do. But I know I can do *something* the article suggests, and this is pray for a speedy end to all this that benefits everyone. May Hashem give Terri what she and her family needs.

Thanks for the concise and informative manner in which you have tackled the issue. It made for very interesting and enlightening reading

I think she should be aloud to live. I can't imagine ANY husband fighting to kill his wife. Especially when her parents are willing to take responsibility for her. There was a similer case here, in missouri, where the parents faught the state to let their daughter die. they finally "won" and instead of taking 3-4 days for her to die, she valiently fought for her own life for 3 more weeks, befor passing away. Just a couple of months later, her father committed suicide! What a tragedy!

RE: Comments by Beverly Kurtin:
It is imperative that you discuss you feelings about circumstances such as these with your children, siblings, etc. YOU MUST PUT YOUR THOUGHTS/
FEELINGS/WISHES IN WRITING AND HAVE THEM WITNESSED AND NOTARIZED.
Copies should be distributed to loved ones NOW- you need to talk about it with them. Don't forget organ donation, too. I told my family that I have lived my life to help others; I want to continue to do so when I am gone.

My late sister had a married son who suffered a haemorrage on his brain at the age of 28 years.. Against doctors advice surgery was performed. This left my nephew in a vegetative state. My sister ( a strictly orthodox Jewess) insisted that her son be kept breathing (alive!). He continued in this vegetative state for 27(twenty-seven) years!! He died 5 years ago. My sister died two years ago.
What a disasterous effect this all had on his young wife, young child, family and friends.
Who was right?!!

She should be allowed to live. I have worked with children/adults who were profoundly physically and mentally handicapped. No one would ever think of terminating their lives. Whether someone is born with this condition or was in an accident should not make any difference.

Terri Schiavo should definitely be kept alive. Her husband is being extremely selfish, and unthoughtful. From what I understand, he has actually remarried! Why, being that he is no longer *techniquely* married to Terri, should he have any say in her fate? Probably one of the saddest parts of this whole scenario is that her parents have to leave their daughter's fate in the hands of a selfish "man."
The way in which this article clearly presented and explained all of the halchic aspects of "futility" (or lack there of) regarding the life and treatment of a patient was extremely informative and insightful.

God is the author and creator of all life. All life is in G_d's hands, it is not for man to choose.

maybe in time, there will be a cure for her.

This entire heartwrenching incident could have been avoided had Terri had prepared a will. The only way that anyone can know our desires is to have the written down in a manner that will be recognized legally.

As a legal services broker, I am constantly shocked at the number of people who not only do not have a will, but who will not write one because of their fear of death.

People. Let me be the first to break the new to you (in case you've never had anyone tell you this before) you ARE going to die. May it be a long time in coming, but it IS going to happen and if you die without a will your loved ones may find themselves in the same position Terri's husband now finds himself.

Her parents have no say in the matter; when she married, their authority over her stopped.

I do not understand this world where lawyers will appeal the death sentance of a convicted serial murderer by lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment and a woman who never harmed anyone is judged to die by starvation with her eyes wide open and looking at you. I do not understand how judges can decide whether a person lives or dies sitting in their court room and reading papers. They should be required to observe Terri interacting with her parents before giving a judgement. How are they supposed to know whether a fraud is being perpetrated on the courts
if they lock themselves in a court room? In the absence of a legal document signed by Terri, they should err on the side of life not death. Her parents should have the right to make decisions for her. They are family for life while the husband has moved on with his life. She'll die soon enough of some opportunistic infection like pneumonia for being bed ridden and not getting any exercise. If her parents think she should be given the opportunity of therapy which has been denied her, or the opportunity to communicate with an aid, a computer etc, she should be given it, in case she can clarify her wishes, or what happened to her originally. It goes gainst her religion to do to her what they are proposing. Death is final.

I feel I must comment about treating terminal illness for those in "intractable pain" such as those suffering from end-stage cancer.
Although he passed away more than 30 years ago, my father was in this category. He was refused adequate pain medication in his last months of life because the medical staff did not want him to become "addicted" to painkillers! While pain management has improved since then, doctors are a LONG way from understanding and treating pain and relief from pain. There is really NO reason that a terminally ill person needs to suffer a painful end when there are so many viable drug cocktails to make their last weeks as comfortable as possible. My advice for anyone with a loved one in this condition is to seek out a physician specializing in pain management.
Finally, I would like to stress the importance of a Halachic Living Will. Too often, physicians will recommend pulling the plug prematurely. This suggestion is made at a time when an ill person's loved ones are extremely vulnerable, fatigued, and traumatized. An Orthodox rabbi should certainly be consulted. But for further protection, Agudath Israel of America has provided free of charge, a halachic living will that is a legal document written specifically for each of the 50 U.S. States. When my mother recently had serious but successful surgery, I was amazed at the wording of the "releases" her doctor urged her to sign. They were completely incompatible with Jewish law, yet the words were veiled in such a way to make them seem completely acceptable.
To find out more about the Halachic Will, contact Agudath Israel of America at 42 Broadway, 14th floor, New York, NY 10004, or call 212-797-9000 and ask for "halachic living will" for your State.

Interesting development this week. A patient, after 20 years in a persistant vegetative state, regained consciousness and is now alert and speaking with her mom. Good thing they didn't pull her plug, 5, 10, or 15 years ago when there was "no hope" for a recovery.

Fabulous article. Clarified things a lot

When our son was killed in the line of duty on the Phoenix Police department there a number of arrangements that had to be made quickly.
His wife age 23 made most of the decisions with the help of several good people from the PD. We as parents were left out of the process. His wife thought she knew what was best even though they had been married for a very short period of time. Her reasoning was to exclude the parents and be on a total power trip of control. We allowed this out of our grief for our dead son. Then to add insult to injury his wife decided to eliminate us from all aspects of her new life, Which meant no more coming over with his two children to see the grandparents or his little sister that still lived at home at the time..
We have not seen her or the grandchildren for the last five years and she refuses to return out phone calls.
I know the feelings Mary's parents must have. Her husband had Mary as a wife for a few short years but her parents had her and loved her for the years prior to her marriage. As My wife and I would have liked to have more participation after the demise of our son we felt the former wife had nothing to gain by controlling the situation. What does Mary's husband have to gain by killing Mary? He claims she would not have wanted to live in a vegetated state..there is really no evidence she is in that state..Only last week a woman woke up and began talking after being in a semi-conscious state for several years. who is to say Mary won't one day wake up and start communicating as well. As a parent who has been left out in the cold I say let her mom and dad make the choice, they knew her best..

I really like this article. When my grandfather passed away (May the Almighty have his soul with HIM), he was on a ventilator and had a feeding tube. When our time to go comes, we will go whether we have a feeding tube or not.I find it very disturbing that someone wants Terri's feeding tube removed, she deserves a chance.Noone is anyone to say whether another human being should have the right to live or not.

In the absence of a living will perhaps Terri's possible wishes could be determined by polling 100 people with whom she chose to associate when she was alive. If she was religious then her local religious community probably reflects her views. If she was not religious then it may be that the gardening club or sewing circle contains people with whom she voluntarily spent time and who therefore could be presumed to have views which reflect her own. She may even have expressly discussed her views on this issue with those people.


Am I correct in thinking that halacha equates the "right to life" with the "duty to live". If I had not signed a living will, then the halachic opinion could certainly be relevant when it comes to determining my medical treatment. As my living will makes it clear that I do not feel I have a duty to live, I do hope that my wishes will be respected. I also would hope that I could be given a lethal injection rather being starved to death, but this is another issue.

Or till we find another woman? Who can predict God's will? When was the last time Michael S. went without food and water for 2 days, nevermind 2 weeks, that he can say its not a painful way to go?
What's real shocking is that people like him walk freely.

Keyvan Victory
Scottsdale, AZ

Well I guess I will start off by saying that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However I do not think that anyone could completely understand Terri's situation until they experience something like this with someone close to them. I truly beleive that Terri's parents should be able to make the decision on her behalf. They only have her best interest in mind.

Alisha Mason
St. Petersburg Fla

Thank God we have a Daniel Eisenberg amongst our people Israel. With so many of my fellow Jews embracing this western culture of death, violence and secular-relativism, this article is truly refreshing to behold. I wonder if our Governor, Jeb Bush has seen it. I suspect he fears most my Jewish brethren here in Florida are against him, from the head of Florida's ACLU on down. Maybe there is hope yet for our people.

Steve Klein
Ocala, Fla.

BS"D
Like what is written in the article and what many of the commentaries have stated, man cannot measure the true value of life!
So, no matter what a person's "will" says and no matter if a person "seems" responsible for whether a person should live or not... On Principle, it's just not up to Us/Man to take a life based on our opinions of its quality.

May she speedily recover and live!

Thank you for helping me understand this difficult position that has been on my mind since it became news.

Simply put, amen!

Thank you for this wonderful timely article. Halacha is applicable to everything! Even this situation well beyond the imagination of our sages. It raises a question though about the mass suicide at Masada. I was always taught this was admirable, snatching defeat from the Romans even where they could not win. If every minute of life is precious then what about Masada?

I think she would not want to live this way and I believe she did tell her husband this. Her parents need to let go and let her life be in the hands of God. I would not want to live this way or have any of my 4 children live this way. God say's, marry your husband and leave your family. It is his choice...

I think her husband should just go on with hi new life and leave Terri and her family alone.

This is a very interesting and informative article. However, the first statement in the article describing Terri in a "vegetative state" immediately sparked an alarm. Additionally, further in the article, the following statement was of concern to me: "persistent vegetative state and Alzheimer's disease are not terminal conditions, per se, despite the fact that they are progressive, irreversible and inevitably result in death." From what I have read about Terri's condition, she is NOT in a "persistent vegetative state," (whatever that exactly is??) and I would wonder if her condition is truly "progressive" and "irreversible." Because the courts have denied Terri access to any therapy or rehabilitation, a "progressive and irreversible" diagnosis would be extremely difficult to determine at this point, I would think. With regards to her condition "inevitably" resulting "in death," all of our conditions will "inevitably result in death." I am, however, relieved to read that removing her feeding tubes would be considered murder. With that I can fully agree!!!

Empirical evidence from survivors of near death experiences and those who have underwent past life and between life regression confirms that the soul of a brain damaged person is the same as the soul of a normal person. For example, blind people who have had near death experiences are able to accurately describe many details about their soroundings including facial and clothing details of the doctors working on them and of loved ones in other rooms of the hospital. This is because the blindness and all other physical impairments do not affect the knowledge of the soul. Brain damaged people have much to learn from this world. Otherwise, God would not send people into the world in such a state.

I first learned of this case several months ago. I was horrified to realise that a Judge could order anyone to die of starvation and dehydration, particularly an innocent woman who is suffering from a brain injury. Even a prisoner on death row would be given a lethal injection and put to death as painlessly as possible but this woman has twice been subjected to having her feeding tube removed, the last time for over six days. I understand that this is also being done on a regular basis to newborn babies who are born with a disability.

It seems to me that mankind has lost the true value of human life. What difference is there between the way that Nazi Germany permitted Judges to order the deaths of innocent Jews, Gypies and mentally challenged people, and those Judges faced the court themselves at Nuremberg, and yet in the 21st Century the Free world nonchalantly agrees to euthanasia of those who are regarded as dispensable? It seems that the lesson of history has not yet been learned.

thanks for the Torah guidelines for dealing c various degrees and stages of life, illness, accidents and dying and calling murder by its name by ungodly utilitarian people of dubious motives. May HaShem give us wisdom and courage to fight for right to life and yet death with dignity natutrally without trying to play G-d in our great free country. Kay Levitan MN, USA
ps. as a ex rehab nurse, Terri certainly DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE IN A PERSISTANT VEGATIVE OR COMOTOSE STATE, and honest g-dfearing media should not give in to the progaganda that she is to; bias the public !!!

Terri has much in common with a retarded child. We do not kill retarded children and we should not kill her. There are concerns of using the living will for ever increasing conditions. We need to be careful that the original purpose to help people die in dignity is not being abused by hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, families, and hospice. We need to be sure someday that if we are elderly and go to the emergency room for a treatable illness that the emergency room does not shove our stretcher to the side and do nothing because we have a living will on file. We are only a step away from fixing social security in America by expanding our definition of quality of life.
Bonnie

I am not sure what her original story is, I don't know how she reached this vegetative state, but I've read about people returning from comma after 16 years, and who knows what G-d has in stake for her. If she has no cognitive pain whatsoever, it might be wise to leave her for a while longer and see what happens. I understand the parents, it's their daughter, and I would fight for my children's life till G-d permits me.

I believe your argument for the sustaining of Terri's live is one of the most lucid and correct statements I have seen to date.I believe it is correct to say that the discomfort is really our trepidation on looking at the infirm.

Thank you.

As a lawyer who has worked with incapable clients and with family matters, I cannot believe that Terri's husband was permitted to continue to represent her interests when he clearly is in a conflict-of-interest position. She would be entitled to a divorce on the grounds of adultery if a litigation guardian was appointed for her for that purpose.
I thought that the analysis in the article was excellent, especially the way that "persistant vegetative state" was distinguished from brain death or terminal illness.

Even after reading this article, I still have very mixed emotions on what the right thing to do is. I don't think we have the right to determine who's life is worthwhile. At the same time, I wouldn't want to live the life of Terri Schiavo. She may not want to live it either. Nobody knows what she thinks or feels, that to me is the dilema. Taking away the feeding tube would it be murder or mercy? I still can't make up my mind.

I guess we all have an opinion regarding what is right and what is wrong.

I believe that even in the most undesirable circumstances in life, it all has some type of plan.

I personally would not want to continue to live in this type of condition if it came upone me. But if for some reason, it ends up happening, then it must be for a purpose unknown to me or to others.

Only G-d, and G-d alone has the right to give life and take life. It is only up to G-d, to take Terri's life from her. Not her husband, and not her doctor's.

When G-d is ready for Terri to leave this world, in her flesh form, then it will not matter how advanced life saving technology is or how good it works. When it is G-d's time for Terri to leave this World, Then the Almighty will take her on "HIS TERMS", not modern medicine, nor mans terms. It is not up to anyone to decided who lives and dies, it's up to G-d and G-d alone.

If life is so precious , who are we to take it away.

As a mother myself, if this was my daughter I would want them to do what ever was necessary to keep her alive. To take the woman off the feeding tube at this point would kill her, making the cause of death involuntary starvation. My deepest thoughts as a mother would be 1)where is she, and is she aware of what is going on around her and just can't respond? 2)is she in pain and just cannot tell us? 3)i would pray for a miracle.

my wife works in intensive care and we both found this article on the jewish perspective very refreshing..and interesting

Very detailed great article for a current issue that I was wondering about myself. As a nursing student, this was very informative!

To not feed humans, animals is a cruel and terrible thing to do. Also if the Governor of a State can pardon a murderer surely he can pardon this young woman.

I appreciate Dr. Eisenberg's (a physician whom I've had the pleasure of hearing lecture) comments as he indicates our obligation, under halacha, to support Mrs. Shiavo's life. This situation, unfortunately is complicated by several factors.



First -- what is her neurologic status ?? Physicians hired by the parents indicate that she is damaged, but not in a persistant vegetative state. This is in contrast to the statements made by her current physicians, who characterize her as having no higher functions.



Second -- who has the right to speak for her ?? The law presumes that her husband, not her parents have that right.



Third -- there is a suggestion that Mr. Shiavo is acting not in his wife's percieved desires, but for financial gain.



As medicine gets better at treating patients like Mrs. Shiavo, we will have more who do not neatly fit either the near moribund nor the truly living. Based on what I've read, Mrs. Shiavo has no cognitive function. General medical ethics (not Jewish ethics) would accept that it is proper to withhold even food if such food must be given artificially AND withholding food is the wish of the patient, as expressed through his/her loved ones. Thus I believe we, as physicians, are obligated to follow the husband's directions. They may be wrong, but the courts have upheld his right to make this request. I'm afraid that allowing the State to step in and over-rule Mr. Shiavo in the long run will be detrimental to our freedom to make such decisions no matter what the situation.

In this case, Terry is beyond cure or a reasonably "normal" life. I have been in this situation before 2 times(!) and took that opportunity the first time in 1985 to let my family know that I did not want to live under those circumstances. Briefly, I do not want to be kept alive because of someone else's reason, nor do I want to be a financial burden on my family. I came out of the COMA the second time and glad I'm still here, sane, able to take care of my responsibilities and back at work, but if I could not have my regular life back, I would have wished my parents to take my life. Now remember, that in itself is not a decision that a parent wishes to make, but knowing how I feel, and having it in writing, makes all the difference. I think I am one of the few people who can actually speak from experience in this case.

Jan

Great article. This family needs our help.

I always enjoy the insightful comments posted in response to my articles. On this particular occassion, I feel it is necessary to respond to two of the comments.

I would like to dispel a misconception that many in the public share. Anonymous wanted to "stress that according to this woman's doctors she is brain dead not brain damaged." This is patently false. Brain death is defined as irreversible cessation of the function of the entire brain, including the brain stem. There is no spontaneous respiration in "brain dead" patients. EVERY "brain dead" patient is on a respirator by definition. Terri Schiavo, even by the loosest criteria is not brain dead.

In response to Dr. Roda, a friend who has invited me to lecture in the past, I would like to point out three issues that make me very uncomfortable. While I think that the real issues are those raised in my article, I would like to respond to Dr. Roda's particular comments.

To say that patients can fit into categories of "moribund" or "truly living" implies that "true life" is defined by cognition. Just as you cannot be "partially" pregnant, you cannot be "partially alive." As halacha recognizes, you can be terminally ill, but Terry Schiavo is certainly not terminally ill by any standard definition.

Second, the assumption that the spouse has the right to make end of life decisions is predicated upon the assumption that they have the best interests of the patient in mind. Mr. Schiavo clearly has several conflicts of interest which make him a very poor surrogate for his wife, particularly with NO correlative evidence of Terri's wishes.

Third, I am very uncomfortable with the idea that we may kill a few people in persistent vegetative states to "protect our freedom to make such decisions no matter what the situation." Murder may never be condoned to protect the right to make decisions in the future.

While I agree with much of the article, I strongly disagree with the statement: "...project that pain onto the victim who may not be suffering at all." I have experienced a condition that my Doctor calls "sleeping paralysis" where for a brief moment, while falling asleep, I suddenly feel awake, yet frozen and unable to move. Thank G-D, I snap out of this state within moments, but the experience is extremely frightening and has given me an insight into what comatose patients may really feel like. If their experience is anything like "sleeping paralysis", a comatose patient's pain may be greater than anyone has ever imagined or projected.

As a legal services broker, one of the hardest jobs I have is in convincing people that they need to have a will, a living will, a medical power of attorney, and a directive to physicians.

This tragic case would never have come to the public light had she simply had a will in place spelling out what her desires were.

In this case, the husband and the husband alone has the legal right to determine whether life support should be withdrawn. The hypocrites in Florida who forced the feeding tube back into her are "pro-life" but are the first to back demands for capital punishment.

If you don't have a will, get one today!

This woman obviously cannot be brain dead if she doesn't require a respirator. If our grandaughter had been able to survive without a respirator she would still be being cared for by our family. She had NO brain function and we still kept her alive on a respirator for 2 weeks to see if there was even the faintest amount of brain function to return.

As a mother, grandmother, and RN I could never "starve" a patient like Terri- it would be murder. Only Hashem knows when it will be her time to die.
Who are we to play G-d?

this is a very emotional case, and this article clearly states what we can and cannot do

This young woman's situation is emotionally riveting, as was this article. It is frightening to think of the direction our society is going, and the life-or-death power in the hands of judges, when a responsive, brain-damaged person can be deemed "not fit to live". She deserves every right to therapy as a child would in the same situation. Seems that the two women fighting over the baby from King Solomon's time are being re-enacted here, only so far, the woman who was willing to have the baby cut in half has been winning. May the ones who truly love this "baby" win in the end.

Well written and well thought out. While I may not agree with the conclusions drawn, this clearly is the "lawful" way of looking at this sorrowful issue.

No one has the right to take away her life.

Thank you for this article. I have been dismayed by the public's response to Terri Schiavo's situation. I work every day with people who have brain damage. Many require more care than Terri to live. All she has is a feeding tube--nothing to help her breathe or help her heart pump. The focus of the arguments about Terri seem to be her "potential" to improve. How do we judge another's potential and what does that mean for all the other brain damaged people who require more assistance than Terri? The focus should be, as the author writes, on what those who care for Terri are required to do, not on Terri's potential. If all she needs to live is food than those around her are morally and legally responsible to provide it.
Terri's husband argues for Terri's "right to die", saying she told him once that she did not wish to live if she were in a vegetative state. If her desire was such, she should have made a living will that could somehow circumvent the responsibilities of those who care for her. Without her expressed documented wishes, her husband is actually arguing for his right to end his wife's life by starvation based something she may have told him in the past. We have no way of knowing if this was her desire or even if she may have changed her mind. Someday, Terri will die. It seems to me her husband is only concerned about a few brief years in the midst of an eternity. The care takers should continue to care for Terri, her husband should accept his wife's life is not in his hands, and I hope they do not again do such a cruel thing as with-hold food and water for days, only to give it back. Thank you again for this article.

Unless her husband has a recorded living will or a videotaped conversation of her stating that she wants to be taken off her feeding tube, the courts of FL have no right even hearing this case. Her husband's testimony is hearsay at best. Plus, the liberal media has not reported that a doctor thinks she has the possibility of recovering. I think her husband's motives are very suspect.

Terri needs our help. Her husband (who has a new family, including children)and his "experts" say she is brain damaged and is in a persistent vegetative state. Her parents and their neurologist say Terri in not in a vegatative state and can follow verbal commands. There is a web cite, terrisfight.org - please go to it and make up your own mind. There are video tapes of Terri interacting with her mother, you can look at.
Right now, the judge has appointed a guardian ad litem that the parents believe has a conflict of interest.

This is not about money. It appears that all the money has been spent by the husband, not on the rehabilitative care and tests the parents want, but on lawyers aidding his attempt to terminate Terri's life. I believe, the husband has also tried to emotionally starve Terri by keeping her parents from seeing her.

Please help anyway you can. Go to the web cite, write letters; say a prayer. Please remember: tikkun olam. We can not refrain from each of us doing our part.

Can someone please explain to me why the Nazi program of euthanizing the mentally handicapped and others who were "unfit to live" was so evil, but when we do the same thing here, it's a matter of choice and "dying with dignity"? Are we morally superior to the Nazis because we starve patients by removing the feeding tube, while they gassed them?
We all recognize that having a relative in Terri Schiavo's condition can be terribly frustrating and burdensome for the family, but that doesn't mean that patients like Terri want to die. Instead of killing the Terris of the world, couldn't we help out the suffering families? And it does not mean that there isn't a God Who has decided to keep her alive for reasons we may not understand.
We should not be expanding the list of "reasons for taking human life". If a convicted murderer is in fairly good health, he deserves to live, but if Aunt Mildred is on a feeding tube, we ought to pull the tube out and starve her to death? The "non-judgmental" have a strange set of values.

I would like to stress that according to this woman's doctors she is brain dead not brain damaged. She has no brain waves at all even when outside stimuli is offered. If that is the case and her doctors say it is so then why on earth has this womans husband been told he cannot do something she wished for?
The article says that if there is treatment being offered obviously we would keep somone living. But doctors have tried treatments and nothing has worked for over ten years. How long must someone keep treating someone not responding to treatment?

Agudath Israel of America has issued a public plea to the husband of Terry Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman, to not remove the feeding tube keeping her alive.

Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer ruled Thursday that there was no merit to an appeal to delay permission for Michael Schiavo to allow his wife to starve to death, in opposition to the wishes of the incapacitated woman's
parents. The court, following Mr. Schiavo's wishes, has ordered the feeding tube removed on Friday, which prompted Agudath Israel's plea.

A spokesman for the national Orthodox Jewish organization appealed to Mr. Schiavo to "recognize that what a court may consider legal can still constitute a grave violation of a higher law," and asked him to "please
allow your wife to continue to live."

"None of us can claim to know what constitutes a meaningful existence," Rabbi Avi Shafran, the organization's director of public affairs continued, "and all of us have a responsibility to preserve even severely compromised
human life."