Thank you for taking the time to report the following comment to the administrator of this site.
Please complete this short form and click the submit button to process your report.

Name:
E-mail
Reason for reporting comment

Comment in question

Parallels to the Terri Schiavo case Written by BOT, on 09-25-2007 19:31 * Kenny is in a persistent vegetative state, and his parents cite things like blinking or smiling as signs of awareness, rather than categorizing them as the involuntary movements that are characteristic of those in a persistent vegetative state.  * In making his case for the removal of the feeding tube, Cartman points to his rights as Kenny's "best friend forever" (or BFF for short) and he is given custody, instead of Kenny's parents and real friends. In the real-life case, custody of Terri Schiavo was initially given to her husband Michael Schiavo (who wanted the feeding tube removed), not to her parents, though he later gave up authority over the key decision to the court system and a state appointed guardian.  * Cartman is seeking Kenny's removal from life support purely out of self-interest, as he will only get the PSP if Kenny dies. Some have argued that Michael Schiavo was also acting out of self-interest because of the $400,000 insurance money or for other selfish reasons (although he was offered over $1,000,000 to keep Terry Schiavo alive). Both Michael Schiavo and Cartman claimed they were only following the wishes of their loved ones. Some think this was done by Michael Schiavo because he was engaged during her vegetative state, initially with the blessing of Schiavo's parents.  * Members of the Republican Party rally to the cause (in Kenny's case: they are unwittingly being controlled by a hooded minion of Satan (called Kevin), which uses the Republicans to achieve its goals).  * Mrs. Garrison tries to bring food and water to Kenny but gets arrested, as many in favor of keeping Terri Schiavo alive did in a symbolic effort during her dying days.  * The misplaced page of Kenny's will (as written above) implicates the media and both arguing sides of his friends and family as being disrespectful for displaying him on national television to try and gain supporters for their argument. As many South Park episodes end with a stated moral lesson, the implied lesson here is that both sides of the Terri Schiavo debate are wrong for making a private issue and family struggle a politicized media spectacle.  * Terri Schiavo herself died the day after this episode aired, two weeks after having had her feeding tube removed.