rickholio

I've had to do that... it was extraordinarily painful to give the go ahead to end the life of a family member, even one lower on the evolutionary ladder. My choice was made somewhat easier in that she was in excruciating pain and for as hard as it was to give the go ahead, it was the right thing to do.

I'm no neurologist, so I can't speak to the 'responses', but from what I understand from researching what her countless doctors and specialists have said, a 'response' is not an indicator of higher order brain function and more of a reflexive thing, like the pupil of the eye dialating in accordance with light variations. Obviously her brain stem survived mostly unaffected or her autonomous functions (breathing, heartbeat) would be impaired, but even some of those functions were damaged irreparably, such as her ability to swallow... which lead to the existance of the tube to begin with.

Her ability to swallow is one point of contention swirling about in the air of ill-will generated by this circus side-showesque political/media orgy. Turns out that Jeb Bush assigned a Stetson University professor named Jay Wolfson to act as guardian ad litem to Terri, assess her situation and the 'facts on the ground' and report back. His report concluded that yes, she was in a persistant vegetative state, but advocated additional testing to see if she had re-developed the ability to swallow. Chief Circuit Judge David A. Demers dismissed Wolfson after receiving the report, but didn't further order such a test be performed.

Keep in mind that even if her ability to swallow was 100%, she wouldn't be able to eat solid foods. Mastication is a voluntary, non-reflexive action. It would allow the tube to be removed from her stomach and for food-fluids to be inserted orally.