All who want to be, yes. What is missing in your one-size-fits-all absolutism is that Terri, like me and millions of others, did not want to be maintained by artificial means. The only problem was that Terri, like most young adults, told people (her husband, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law) but didn't have her wishes written down. So, now, people who want to make some political point can make it at her expense.
I would certainly want to be allowed to die in such a terrible circumstance and my durable power of attorney so provides. As Paul said, we of all people should not grieve over physical life "... like the rest who have no hope." (1 Thess 4:13b).
BTW, I believe that most conservatives are Christians, but I realize that some aren't. If you are one of the latter, i.e. a conservative but not a Christian, it might make good sense NOT to direct such a course of action for yourself.
Do you think that all humans who are the condition she is in should be starved until they die, if they don't have anything in writing?
Should all people who are brain damaged be starved to death............according to your interpretation of the Apostle Paul?
"All who want to be, yes."
A canny dodge there--how about those whose wishes we cannot know for sure?
"What is missing in your one-size-fits-all absolutism"
I don't understand the argumentative tone. I asked a simple question, openly, and you, as all the others with your position here, turn it into something it is not. I'm not proposing any kind of absolutism; I merely asked a question.
" is that Terri, like me and millions of others, did not want to be maintained by artificial means. The only problem was that Terri, like most young adults, told people (her husband, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law) but didn't have her wishes written down."
Well, that's kind of a big issue, isn't it, not some minor quibble?
Nothing stops people who feel strongly about this from rushing out on any business day and getting a DNR order. Nothing.
Is it that big a strain on people to expect them to actually put it in writing that they want to be starved to death in certain situations? Isn't that kind of why we have such things in the first place?
Supposedly she told one person this, this one person having no other evidence except his word.
Folks who want folks to have the right to end their lives have this weird new standard--it used to be that one should have the right to get a court-approved document that siad "In such event..." You got that. NOW it's "If they tell one other person at some point, even if there is no other documentation proving it."
How about people who were born in the state Terri is in? Don't they have to endure the same situations you described if their brains are also GONE? Should we starve them too? I mean, aren't they suffering and deserving of mercy, too?
"The only problem was that Terri, like most young adults, told people (her husband, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law) but didn't have her wishes written down."
If she actually said that to her husband and his kin, why was that not brought up during the lawsuit that handed Michael a check for more than a million dollars? Don't you think that would have been significant to bring out in court at that point?