Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
If That Ever Happens to Me: Making Life and Death Decisions after Terri Schiavo

If That Ever Happens to Me: Making Life and Death Decisions after Terri Schiavo

Shepherd, Lois

Paperback

Series: Studies in Social Medicine

PhilosophyMedical ReferenceGeneral Law

ISBN10: 0807873527
ISBN13: 9780807873526
Publisher: Univ Of North Carolina Pr
Published: Feb 3 2012
Pages: 240
Weight: 0.60
Height: 0.60 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.10
Language: English
Every day, thousands of people quietly face decisions as agonizing as those made famous in the Terri Schiavo case. Throughout that controversy, all kinds of people -- politicians, religious leaders, legal and medical experts -- made emphatic statements about the facts and offered even more certain opinions about what should be done. To many, courts were either ordering Terri's death by starvation or vindicating her constitutional rights. Both sides called for simple answers. If That Ever Happens to Me details why these simple answers were not right for Terri Schiavo and why they are not right for end-of-life decisions today.

Lois Shepherd looks behind labels like starvation, care, or medical treatment to consider what care and feeding really mean, when feeding tubes might be removed, and why disability groups, the faithful, and even the dying themselves often suggest end-of-life solutions that they might later regret. For example, Shepherd cautions against living wills as a pat answer. She provides evidence that demanding letter-perfect documents can actually weaken, rather than bolster, patient choice.

The actions taken and decisions made during Terri Schiavo's final years will continue to have repercussions for thousands of others -- those nearing death, their families, health-care professionals, attorneys, lawmakers, clergy, media, researchers, and ethicists. If That Ever Happens to Me is an excellent choice for anyone interested in end-of-life law, policy, and ethics -- particularly readers seeking a deeper understanding of the issues raised by Terri Schiavo's case.

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