The Terri Schiavo case. Need I say more?
This is a story that has been nagging on me for quite a while. Not only because I hate the way in which such basic spiritual and medical issues have been turned into political bargaining chips, but also because I’ve seen situations similar to this first-hand, and have had to agonize with others over what someone who has fallen silent would want in such a position.
The fact is, as a public and as human beings, none of us can really know, and none of us are qualified to make the decision as to whether a person in a persistent vegetative state is truly “alive” or not. Medical experts can make inferences based on how such a person interacts with us and its environment (read: little to none). We can assume that because they don’t interact in the same way as normally functioning human beings, then they are essentially brain dead, and what we knew of that person is gone. But, this isn’t truly an answer. We barely understand the human mind, and none of us can yet know what is going on in the mind of Terri or anyone else in a similar position.
In this particular case, our judgement is further distorted by people whose judgements are tainted by personal involvement and personal agenda. The accusation has been made that Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, stands to gain personally and financially by letting Terri die, and likewise there’s plenty of emotional torment that Schiavo’s parents can inflict on their son-in-law, who they’ve been long estranged from. Neither can can be fully believed to have the answers.
My take on this? I would rather Terri not die. Not because I don’t think she’d want to continue on in this state, but because we don’t seem to have the guts to let her die peacefully, humanely and quickly. I mean, removing a feeding tube and letting her starve or dehydrate to death? No sedation, no way to ease the agony that such a death would undoubtably cause? How can that possibly be peaceful and humane? We treat our own pets with more dignity than we do people in these states.
Add to this the fact that now congress seems to want to take control over whether we are allowed to let ourselves die humanely if we chose, under the false banner of “preserving” patient’s rights. It’s disgusting.
My, my…after reviewing several tapes of Terri, and working in the
hospice field myself, it is my personal beleif that not only is an
obviously alert and innocent young woman being put to death ,
but America is losing its grips of humanity and compassion for the
disabled. Politics and money are in play with this unexcusable act
of riddence. May God take her soul away from her body before she
suffers greatly at the hands of her so called ”loving” husband and
the higher courts of our ”great” nation.
I MIGHT be… MIGHT be… okay with Terri being let go, if the death was swift and merciful. I just cannot wrap my head around the idea that someone is being starved and dehydrated. Doctors insist that is a peaceful way to go, but I certainly would not want that for myself. I don’t want to waste away over one week, two weeks, no matter how peaceful someone might think it is. If someone really, really believes that I have no chance of recuperation, that I am truly and permanently vegetative, and that mentally/spiritually, I’m really gone and all that remains is a mere shell, then at least make certain that I go in a quick, swift and hopefully painless fashion (and I mean painless and swift even for a lucid person). Because if everyone IS wrong, and I’m really in there but can’t speak or make my needs and wants known, I don’t want to have to sit there for days and weeks, contemplating my fate, and hating everyone around me for giving up on me.