Terri Schiavo Essay

There is still, to this day, a debate on whether Terri Schiavo was conscious or not while she was hospitalized. It was widely accepted by experts that Schiavo was in a PVS, which implies that she had no cognitive function, and thus was unaware of her surroundings. If she were in a PVS coma, she would have not been aware of the war happening between her loved ones, and thus, would not have suffered through it. However, some experts such as Dr. William Polk Cheshire, Jr, believed that she was in a minimally conscious state, which means that she did have some awareness of what was going on around her (Grossenbacher 421). In the case that Terri Schiavo was, in fact, conscious during the events leading to her feeding tube being unplugged, her Autonomy …show more content…
The only medical assistance given to Terri Schiavo was the use of a feeding tube, which was keeping her alive. This treatment prolonged her life, but it did not improve her living conditions. Neurologists agreed that there was no hope that she would never recover from her PVS coma (Preston and Kelly 123). Thus, keeping her connected to the feeding tube longer would have done nothing but postpone her death. This is not Beneficent for Terri Schiavo, as the treatment is not improving her condition. Therefore, unplugging her feeding tube did not violate this principle. As for Non-Maleficence, it is important to know if she was harmed by the removal of the feeding tube. She died due to starvation, which would cause pain and discomfort for anyone who is conscious. However, due to PVS, she did not experience this suffering (125). If she was not unplugged, she would have eventually developed illnesses associated with aging and immobility (126). Although Terri would not have suffered through this, it would have caused unnecessary pain and grief for her family. Thus, discontinuing her feeding tube prevented her from falling ill and did not physically harm her either. Thus, Non-Maleficence was also respected.