|
Terri
Schiavo Begins Painful Death Process Friday.
Description
Below Shows It Will Be Ugly And Inhumane-Not Death
With Dignity.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2005
The
Following Statement Can Be Attributed To Nevada LIFE
President
Don Nelson
Terri
Schiavo’s husband Michael Schiavo will remove
Terri’s feeding tube sometime on Friday March 18,
2005. Media reports have erroneously reported
that Terri will slip away and die peacefully and meet
death with dignity. This could not be more
inaccurate. St. Louis neurologist William Burke
describes death by dehydration and starvation:
"A
conscious [cognitively disabled] person would feel it
just as you or I would. They will go into seizures.
Their skin cracks, their tongue cracks, their lips
crack. They may have nosebleeds because of the drying
of the mucus membranes, and heaving and vomiting might
ensue because of the drying out of the stomach lining.
They feel the pangs of hunger and thirst. Imagine
going one day without a glass of water! Death by
dehydration takes ten to fourteen days. It is an
extremely agonizing death."
It
is hard to think of any kind of death that could be
more inhumane or undignified for a human being.
Experts
testify that Terri is not in a coma or persistent
vegetative state. She is not dying and is not
sick. She is not on life support machines.
She responds to her family and commands. She
enjoys music and responds to pain. Terri Schiavo
will experience the entire painful process of
starvation.
Terri
is connected only to a feeding tube. Feeding
tubes are humane care, not extreme care.
Another
misconception is that if Terri is allowed to live, it
would set a precedent in which other people would not
be allowed to die. People have the right to
refuse treatment in all 50 states. To treat a
person against their wishes could constitute battery.
This case is controversial because Terri’s wishes
are in dispute. Had Terri left written
instructions that she would indeed want to die if she
were incapacitated or connected to a mere feeding
tube, there would be no fight. Her rights would
be executed and she would be allowed to die.
These
misconceptions need to be corrected and reported to
the public before she is killed, not after. A
woman’s right to life is at stake now.
###
|