The Case of Terri Schiavo Ethics, Politics, and Death in the 21st Century

by Goodman, Kenneth

• ISBN13: 9780195399080
• ISBN10: 0195399080
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-10-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The case of Terri Schiavo, a young woman who spent 15 years in a persistent vegetative state, has emerged as a watershed in debates over end-of-life care. While many observers had thought the right to refuse medical treatment was well established, this case split a family, divided a nation, and counfounded physicians, legislators, and many of the people they treated or represented. In renewing debates over the importance of advance directives, the appropriate role of artificial hydration and nutrition, and the responsibilities of family members, the case also became one of history's most extensively litigated health care disputes. The Case of Terri Schiavo assembles a team of first-hand participants and content experts to provide thoughtful and nuanced analyses. In addition to a comprehensive overview, the book includes contributions by Ms. Schiavo's guardian ad litem, a neurologist and lawyer who participated in the case, and scholars who examine issues related to litigation, faith, gender, and disability. The volume also includes a powerful dissent from the views of many scholars in the bioethics community. The book is intended for students, health care professionals, policy makers, and other in search of carefully reasoned analyses of the case that will shape our view of death and end-of-life medical care for decades.

Author Biography

Director, Bioethics Program, University of Miami

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. xi
Terri Schiavo and the Culture Wars: Ethics vs. Politics	p. 1
At Theresa Sciavo's Bedside: A Guardian's Role and Reflections	p. 39
Schiavo, Privacy, and the Interests of Law	p. 50
The Schiavo Maelstrom's Potential impact on the Law of End-of-Life Decision Making	p. 78
The Continuing Assault on Personal Autonomy in the Wake of the Schiavo Case	p. 101
A Common Uniqueness: Medical Facts in the Schiavo Case	p. 112
Crossing the Borderlands at Nightfall: New Issues in Moral Philosophy and Faith at the End of Life	p. 137
Disability Rights and Wrongs in the Terri Schiavo Case	p. 158
Framing Terri Schiavo: Gender, Disability, and Fetal Protection	p. 191
Terri Schiavo and Televised News: Facts or Fiction?	p. 210
Appendix: Timeline of Key Events in the Case of	p. 225
Index	p. 225
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