Death and Legal Considerations
“Death is both inevitable and irreversible. It is the one personal event that the individual can never report.”(Riley, 1983 p.192) Riley states in his Sociology Review Article, “Dying and the meanings of Death: Sociological Inquiries.” If I was forced to make an end of life decision I feel it would highly depend on the individual circumstance. In this paper for my final project I will look at problems that arise with end of life decisions, look at legal cases and how they approached the problems and present my decision based on specific circumstance. First, I will address problems that can arise in the end of life situation, as Riley states, “The remarkable decline in mortality is one of the most striking features …show more content…
This problem was seen the Terry Schiavo case in Florida. Terry suffered a “myocardial infarction” and resulted in prolonged lack of oxygen to the brain which irreversibly injured Terry’s brain and left her in a Persistent vegetative state. Terry was not legally prepared for and end of life event, so the authority over Terry was passed to her husband Michael, however, Terry’s parents did not approve of Michael being her guardian as Michael had a relationship and children outside of marriage. Michael wanted Terry’s feeding tube to be removed, her parents did not. Terry suffered irreparable brain injury in 1990. Terry’s parents petitioned the courts for removal of Michael as guardian, their petition was denied. In 1998 Michael sought and was approved for “Discontinue[ation of] care” (Mareiniss, 2005 p. 240) The Schindlers (Terry’s parents) appealed the lower court’s decision. In 2001, after review of the case, the Florida Appellate court affirmed the lower court’s decision. Three more appeals followed. Finally, after years of legal battles, in 2003 Michael prevailed and Terry’s feeding tube was
“Death is both inevitable and irreversible. It is the one personal event that the individual can never report.”(Riley, 1983 p.192) Riley states in his Sociology Review Article, “Dying and the meanings of Death: Sociological Inquiries.” If I was forced to make an end of life decision I feel it would highly depend on the individual circumstance. In this paper for my final project I will look at problems that arise with end of life decisions, look at legal cases and how they approached the problems and present my decision based on specific circumstance. First, I will address problems that can arise in the end of life situation, as Riley states, “The remarkable decline in mortality is one of the most striking features …show more content…
This problem was seen the Terry Schiavo case in Florida. Terry suffered a “myocardial infarction” and resulted in prolonged lack of oxygen to the brain which irreversibly injured Terry’s brain and left her in a Persistent vegetative state. Terry was not legally prepared for and end of life event, so the authority over Terry was passed to her husband Michael, however, Terry’s parents did not approve of Michael being her guardian as Michael had a relationship and children outside of marriage. Michael wanted Terry’s feeding tube to be removed, her parents did not. Terry suffered irreparable brain injury in 1990. Terry’s parents petitioned the courts for removal of Michael as guardian, their petition was denied. In 1998 Michael sought and was approved for “Discontinue[ation of] care” (Mareiniss, 2005 p. 240) The Schindlers (Terry’s parents) appealed the lower court’s decision. In 2001, after review of the case, the Florida Appellate court affirmed the lower court’s decision. Three more appeals followed. Finally, after years of legal battles, in 2003 Michael prevailed and Terry’s feeding tube was