.

             If the stages of available health care for the disabled are understood, the public and advocates for the disabled can better assist in protecting the health care stages and options for the disabled . .

             Health care needs.

             When it comes to the disabled it is important to understand that many times their needs are different than those who are not disabled.

             One of the most publicized concerns about health care options for the disabled is the right to die. In the case of Terri Shiavo, the right to die was not left up to her, but instead battled out in the courts, and the public eye between her husband and her parents. It was a classic example of why it is important to provide and protect health care options for the disabled. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the decision that was made in that case, one cannot argue about the importance of having health care stages available for the disabled in this country(Health, 2005). .

             "Before Terri Schiavo, there was Robert Wendland in California. Both his wife and mother agreed that Mr. Wendland was not in a persistent vegetative state, and that he had not left clear and convincing evidence of his wishes. Nevertheless, his wife argued that she should be able to remove his tube feeding anyway, and Dr. Ron Cranford was on the scene to support her. A state statute, based on a national model health care decisions code, gave her the right to starve and dehydrate him, and forty-three bioethicists filed a friend of the court brief in agreement. .

             Ten disability rights organizations filed against the general presumption that no one would want to live with his disabilities, being used to justify lowering constitutional protections of his life. Ultimately, the California Supreme Court agreed with us that his life could not be taken without clear and convincing evidence of his wishes(Health, 2005).".

             These two cases bring to light the extreme importance of having clear cut health care stage options for the disabled who cannot always speak for themselves.