My Thoughts: Terri Schiavo
As it has permeated the news, I feel like I need to weigh in on the Terri Schiavo situation.
If you've been living under a rock, here's the update: Terri Schiavo had a heart attack in 1990. She was severely brain damaged. She is able to breath on her own, but requires a feeding tube. For the last 15 years, her husband has fought to have her tube removed, saying that's what she would have wanted. He has turned down money, refused to sign over guardianship to her parents and fought tooth and nail for the tube's removal. I believe he is one of two things: crazy or completely certain that Terri would not want to live. Today her feeding tube was removed. Experts say she will starve to death over the next week.
I didn't know what to think about the case until I saw a video of Terri with her mother. In the video, her face lights up when her mother draws near to her, and she smiles as her mother strokes her check. Suddenly she seemed real and it ripped my heart out.
I don't presume to know what Terri Schiavo would have wanted had she known she'd suffer this fate. I don't know what I'd want. But what strikes fear in my heart is the decision that she can be starved to death simply for being "useless" ... I don't know where we will draw the line ... and that scares me.
If life is sacred, aren't the lives of the "useless" also sacred? In the absence of a written document signed by Terri, I don't see how someone can say she should die, particularly in such a horrible and painful way.
Regardless of what happens, those who will likely suffer the most are her family and friends. They are in my prayers.
If you've been living under a rock, here's the update: Terri Schiavo had a heart attack in 1990. She was severely brain damaged. She is able to breath on her own, but requires a feeding tube. For the last 15 years, her husband has fought to have her tube removed, saying that's what she would have wanted. He has turned down money, refused to sign over guardianship to her parents and fought tooth and nail for the tube's removal. I believe he is one of two things: crazy or completely certain that Terri would not want to live. Today her feeding tube was removed. Experts say she will starve to death over the next week.
I didn't know what to think about the case until I saw a video of Terri with her mother. In the video, her face lights up when her mother draws near to her, and she smiles as her mother strokes her check. Suddenly she seemed real and it ripped my heart out.
I don't presume to know what Terri Schiavo would have wanted had she known she'd suffer this fate. I don't know what I'd want. But what strikes fear in my heart is the decision that she can be starved to death simply for being "useless" ... I don't know where we will draw the line ... and that scares me.
If life is sacred, aren't the lives of the "useless" also sacred? In the absence of a written document signed by Terri, I don't see how someone can say she should die, particularly in such a horrible and painful way.
Regardless of what happens, those who will likely suffer the most are her family and friends. They are in my prayers.
1 Comments:
I just had an article about this posted on my news site. I heard on TV that some "well known scholar" was comparing this incident and the resulting legislation as a step towards Nazi like laws. He compared the killing of this one person to the killing of any such people like Terri Schiavo in Nazi Germany. I think that this is Horrible, to compare the case to Nazi Germany. Although I do agree that life is sacred, I think that the wish of the person should be honored.
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