Assisted death...why not ask the patient?

An interesting article from Technology Review shows that, by using brain imaging, a patient in a vegetative state was able answer a series of yes or no questions.  Based on where the brain activity was happening, scientists could determine whether the answer was yes or no.

While the complexities and variables of testing for this, and even the moral and ethical questions are still very prevalent, it makes me imagine how something like the Terry Schiavo case would have been handled differently...if you actually could assess her own thoughts.

Schiavo, who was in a vegetative state for 7 years, become a national media sensation when her husband petitioned to have her feeding tube removed, and thus end her life.  Aside from the media, our own president and government at the time stepped in, to attempt to maneuver this into a politic issue about assisted death.  In the end, her husband and guardian was granted the removal by the state of florida.

It is interesting to think about the implications if Terry could communicate via this new technology...what would she say?  Would she understand her condition, and if so, possibly agree with her husband?  Or not?  The more we discover, the less easy answers we may have. 

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24475/