After following the story with much debate on what is appropriate for such a situation, Terri died this morning after going two weeks without food or water.
It is time for me to get my living will in order.
Terri finally died
After following the story with much debate on what is appropriate for such a situation, Terri died this morning after going two weeks without food or water.
It is time for me to get my living will in order.
living will
I am just the guy that can help you with that to sis, I helped Andrea do hers, and she is ready, let me know how I can help my favorite sister.
Curt
Florida living wll
The following living will arrived in my inbox just this morning. It is supposed to be humorous, don’t get offended 🙂
Florida – Living Will
I, _________________________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, unequivocally declare that in the event of a catastrophic injury, I do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.
I hereby instruct my loved ones and relatives to remove all life-support systems, once it has been determined that my brain is no longer functioning in a cognizant realm. However, that judgment should be made only after thorough consultation with medical experts; i.e., individuals who actually have been trained, educated and certified as doctors.
Under no circumstances — and I can’t state this too strongly — should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn’t pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.
Furthermore, it is my firm hope that, when the time comes, any discussion about terminating my medical treatment should remain private and confidential.
Living in Florida, however, I am acutely aware that the legislative and executive branches of state government are fond of meddling in family matters, and have little concern for the privacy and dignity of individuals.
Therefore, I wish to make my views on this subject as clear and unambiguous as possible. Recognizing that some politicians seem cerebrally challenged themselves (and with no medical excuse), I’ll try to keep this simple and to the point:
1. While remaining sensitive to the feelings of loved ones who might cling to hope for my recovery, let me state that if a reasonable amount of time passes — say, ____ (fill in the blank) months — and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won’t ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, life partner, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.
2. Under no circumstances shall the members of the Legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Floridians who aren’t in a permanent coma.
3. Under no circumstances shall the governor of Florida butt into this case and order my doctors to put a feeding tube down my throat. I don’t care how many fundamentalist votes he’s trying to scrounge for his brother in 2004, it is my wish that he plays politics with someone else’s life and leaves me to die in peace.
4. I couldn’t care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don’t know these people, and I certainly haven’t authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too.
5. It is my heartfelt wish to expire quietly and without a public spectacle. This is obviously impossible once elected officials become involved. So, while recognizing the wrenching emotions that attend the prolonged death of a loved one, I hereby instruct my relatives to settle all disagreements about my care in private or in the courts, as provided by law. If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living ____ (fill in the blank)
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Additional follow-up on the aftermath
CNN has some follow-up stories on the aftermath:
That whole situation just sucks. The thing I like the least about it? That the media kept playing the religious angle. Religion now, as always, is a hot-button in society. I never read a single article from the mainstream media (quite a few on blogs, though) discussing any of the very many deeply religious people who thought that keeping her alive via artificial means was cruel to her, and that she should be allowed to die and meet her Maker in peace.
Oy, veh.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Build a Bridge!
If 90% of Americans believe in God, how can you not expect to hear about it from the religious stand point? Get used to it. That won’t change any time soon!–
Christy
It’s not the standpoint…
Actually, according to recent statistics that number is between 84% and 88%, if you include standard deviation…
Umm, regardless, I think I phrased myself poorly. What I meant to say was that I object to the media’s portrayal of this as a religious war, with the “anti-religion” side embodied in Michael Schiavo “winning”.
If there is a God, either way, she or he’d be welcoming Terri home whenever the time came. I just dislike seeing people stereotyped unjustly, regardless of what I think of their opinions. The media did exactly that, casting the parents as the pious sympathetic characters, and Michael as the bitter, godless opposition.
I guess I’m more sensitive to it these days than in days of yore. Yet I have trouble remaining silent when my conscience demands speech or action…
—
Matthew P. Barnson
yeah
–Umm, regardless, I think I phrased myself poorly. What I meant to say was that I object to the media’s portrayal of this as a religious war, with the “anti-religion” side embodied in Michael Schiavo “winning”.–
This is something I’ve never understood. If one of the goals of Christianity is to go to Heaven, why would the “religious” side not want Terri to escape the confines of her ruined body and go to God?
— Ben