Terri's situation. Offered for discussion: If you were given orders

Terry was Catholic. Let's pray that she really was saved.
Can't we just let her rest in peace since she is now dead?
To the OP, one must follow his conscience before God and leave the rest up to God. As far as "legally" allowing such excercise of conscience, the Biblical answer would be yes, one should be allowed such free excercise but that particular freedom has been legislated/ruled away long ago in this country.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

The two are very different Diane.
A police officer is sworn to uphold the law. If he cannot in good conscience uphold a law he finds distasteful, then perhaps he ought to find a different line of work.
A pharmacist in one sense is also sworn to uphold certain laws. i.e. dispensing of controlled substances. If that pharmacist cannot in good conscience perform his duties in his line of work, then he, too, ought to find another line of work.

JMO.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

A parallel situation would be conscientious objectors to the Iraq war in the military.

 

What IF your spouse verbally told you they their whishes were not to be kept alive artifically.

What would you do?

None of us knows IF Terri did say this to her husband or not, I suspect she did b/c I know lots of couples that have expressed these whishes verbally, including my wife and I.

My wife wants to go to a lawyer b/c she feels that I would not have the heart to "pull the plug" and not have the nerve to stand up to any opposition and would leave her to rot in a bed for years to come.

IMO the feeding tube should have never been put in to begin with.

 

If she did, then why did he wait 7 years to attempt to follow through with her wishes.

 

I have expressed to my wife the desire of not wanting to be 'kept' alive by artificial means. I am somewhat concerned, however, about how quickly she agreed that she would definately carry out my wishes.

 

My undergraduate degree was in Aerospace Engineering. I could have worked on NASA projects (which is what I wanted to do), commercial aviation, or military. My faith dictated to me that I not work on military projects. I turned down a job with the Cornell Aeronautical Lab. because I was going to work on military work. I later got a job working with NASA.

If someone is serious about their faith they can manage their career so it doesn't conflict with their religious beliefs. Somestimes, as in my case, it means taking a little longer to find a job.

 

I can’t speculate his motives, but maybe he was holding out and hoping for a miracle. I don’t know. But the situation she was in after her heart attack was irreversible. Once the brain is deprived from oxygen and damage is done, there is no chance the brain will heal itself, much like a liver, once your liver is damaged there is no chance your liver will heal.

Maybe Mr. Schiavo wasn’t adequately informed of Terri’s feeble condition at the time, I don’t know, but a choice was made to insert a feeding tube and once that was done, we have a whole new ballgame and I didn’t agree with this outcome nor the Government getting involved. This situation was handled in the local courts where it needed to be.

Morally Mr. Schiavo should've done the right thing and just gave custody to her parents.

 

This is something I have wondered about, but not heard discussed. Can you legally give up your financial responsibility to a spouse for something incurred during the marriage? If he had divorced her, and then her parents had refused to pay, would the hospital have gone after him financially because he was her spouse at the time of onset of the illness?

I know in North Carolina the spouse can be held responsible for a debt incurred during the marriage, would this apply in this situation?

 

This is something I have wondered about, but not heard discussed. Can you legally give up your financial responsibility to a spouse for something incurred during the marriage? If he had divorced her, and then her parents had refused to pay, would the hospital have gone after him financially because he was her spouse at the time of onset of the illness?

I know in North Carolina the spouse can be held responsible for a debt incurred during the marriage, would this apply in this situation? </font>[/QUOTE]That’s a good question to pose. You would think that if he did sign custody of his wife to her parents and then divorced her that her parents would be held responsible. But its not what I think, which is why I would defiantly get that much in writing that I am now legally not responsible.

It’s just hard for me to imagine anybody wanting to live like that of Terri. The more I think about this the more confused I get, because I personally wouldn’t want to live like that.

If I have a heart attack and was without oxygen for any length of time I do not want to be resuscitated. Rotting in bed by bed sores is not my idea of a wonderful life, give me my mansion in paradise.

Lessons learned, get your whishes in writing in a legal format.

 

The "cynic" in me could jump all over this fact, but I will let it rest and not feed my flesh.

Here is an interesting spin on the whole situation I heard last night on Micheal Savage's show. (NOT an endorsement for MSavage)

This psycologist noted the Irony of Terri being starved to death since it was her bulimia that brought on the heart attack in the first place which led to her vegetative state. Interesting, NO? Here is a girl so obsessed with her appearence that she would starve/purge herself to stay thin, and at the end of her life, she starves to death.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

Interesting that he would divorce HER for getting fat, but would not divorce her for HIS infidelity. HMMM

Well, well. Alas, the best we can do is press on and warn others of the impending doom this nation is in for because of such travesties.
I really don't think God is going to "wink" at this nations collective sins very much longer.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

Amen!

And NO I would not be part of her murder regardless of my position.

 

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Yes they should be fully protected, but dont expect that consideration to be given in a court at any time soon. If my employer asked me to do something that was illegal or in conflict with my Christian faith, I would refuse.

 

I have worked for this police dept for 17 years. If a police officer (or in my case, a dispatcher) has to do a job, we do it without taking sides in civil matters...KEEP THE PEACE is the order of the day. In criminal matters, we go after the bad guy.

The Schiavo case was civil, as proven to us by the judicial system involvement. I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH WHAT WAS DECIDED, but just like Jeb Bush, I would have to abide by their decision. Having said that -

America!! Wake up!!! The courts have waaaay too much power! Our system was designed for checks and balance of power...legislative, executive, and judicial were meant to keep each other from taking over...well, guess what? LIBERAL JUDGES are running this country!!! Do something before we are no longer a democracy!!!