Terri Schaivo Euthanasia or Mercy Killing - 791 Words

The story of Terri Schiavo is definitely a controversial one, both medically and morally. In 1990, at the age of 26, Terri suffered from mysterious cardio-respiratory arrest. Even today, no cause for this arrest has ever been determined. Following her cardio-respiratory attack, Schiavo was diagnosed with hypoxic encephalopathy, which is a neurological injury caused by lack of oxygen to the brain. Post mortem, Schiavos brain was discovered to be half the normal weight, thus proving severe neuronal atrophy (Medical Examiner, District 6, Largo, Florida) after her attack, Schiavo was placed on a ventilator. Later, her heart and respiratory systems were able to function normally on their own; however, Schiavos neurological functions were†¦show more content†¦Although my stand on the Schiavo case is not entirely based on Catholicism or its teachings, I believe the church would agree with my decision to have kept Terri Schiavo alive. However, I believe that if Schiavo had contracte d a life-threatening condition, and had been in a persisting vegetative state, the person responsible for Terri, whether it had been her parents, or husband, would have definitely been within their rights to quickly and peacefully end her life. Also, the Catholic Church would have probably seen Michael Schiavos alleged infidelity and desire to re-marry as a motive to end his wifes medically assisted existence. Works Cited: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/31/schiavo/index.html http://www.terrisfight.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/5050439_autopsy%20report%20and%20supporting%20documents.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia http://www.euthanasia.com/