And because this is the "real" news on the matter -

[kyburg]

The Teri Schiavo autopsy results are in.

And her husband did his duty by her.

And the so-called "pro-life" activists? *waves red flag of personal opinion*

They have a long way to go before they can convince me that their "activism" isn't smoke from another fire - it appears to have little to do with "life" or dealing with the hard realities of end-of-life issues. There are worse things than being alive, if you truly believe in any kind of afterlife.

This was one of them. Thank God it's over.

Comments

[lolleeroberts.livejournal.com]

Another account I read stated that she had been cortically blind for at least several years. The centers of the brain that control vision were completely atrophied. So much for recognizing family members and following them with her eyes. There was no evidence of previous strangulation, no trauma, no healed broken bones. In short, there was no evidence of any sort of physical abuse. The autopsy was completely consistent with anoxic encephalopathy - brain damage from oxygen deprivation. We will probably never know what caused the cardiac arrest that led to the oxygen deprivation.

*Red Flag of personal opinion here*

Was Michael Schiavo a saint? No. Was he the horrific monster he was painted by the Schindlers and the religious right? No. He was a flawed human being doing what he thought his wife would have wanted. I've watched many such people making decisions for comatose or vegatative loved ones. Only once have I seen a family member eager to pull the plug. We declined to do so, since the patient had the possibility of recovery. That patient lived, and his first words once off the ventilator - "I want a good divorce attorney."

I personally have nothing but contempt for wife-beaters. They are scum, criminals who deserve to be treated as such. The damage they do goes beyond the physical. I have friends who survived abuse, and they become almost incoherent with anger and dismay when they think an abuser is getting away with it. I do not believe that happened here. Your opinion may differ from mine.

[ms-hecubus.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more.

[joggingguy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I read about that this morning. The ABC news report said that the vision centers of her brain were dead, so she was blind also. Very sad :-(

[religioushoax.livejournal.com]

here's an article where they reference the blindness: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5076717,00.html

people were quick to say that hubby was a dick because he moved in with his girlfriend and whatnot. but how long was it before he did that? all that gets overlooked. i'm not going to pretend to have all the information. i didn't follow it that closely cuz the whole thing just infuriates me. maybe he was a prick, maybe he wasn't. but i'm leaning towards the opinions above - you wouldn't go through an entire nursing program if you truly didn't want to take care of this person. he didn't give up and want to pull the plug immediately, i do know that much. our local city paper had a timeline and i believe it said it was like 2 years after the fact and he was still in denial that she would not recover. i don't think moving on with his life after several years makes him a prick. but yeah, i'm glad it's over. she's finally at peace.

[religioushoax.livejournal.com]

here's the link to the dayton city paper that has the timeline... all the money he won from the malpractice went into a trust fund for her medical care:

http://www.daytoncitypaper.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1678