I don't know for sure, but I've heard it said, that suicide is illegal in the United States.
So.. Doc Kavorkian is in jail.. for assisting terminally ill patients to commit suicide. What about their right to die? They're not going to get well. Most terminally ill patients are going to die a horrible, and painful death, yet where is their right to die?
My thoughts...
Terri Schiavo couldn't feed herself. If the news can be believed.. she could swallow, she swallowed her own saliva, it didn't have to be suctioned. Yet said one of the folks on Fox news.. her husband wouldn't permit anyone to re-teach her to eat, saying he was afraid she'd choke to death if they did. (yeah, yeah, go figure that logic, if that's true.)
What common sense told that judge, that he should rule that Terri should be given absolutely no food or water.. by mouth. That's not artificial. That wasn't a tube. That poor woman was forbidden ANYthing by food or mouth. It seems to me that the whole argument would have ended then and there at feeding time.. If Terri wanted to die, she'd have spit the food out.. and if she'd wanted to live, she'd have learned to eat. If she could have had that opportunity.. I think I'd feel better about this whole thing.
I think, in effect, Judge Greer and Michael Schiavo are guilty of a worse crime than Dr. Kavorkian. Kavorkian helped his patients die humainly.. gently. Greer and Mr. Schiavo helped Terri die a painful, gruesome, horrid, slow death. Try going 1 day with no food and no water. One. 1 day. Hell, most of us go 6 hours without food and we're grumbling that we're hungry and have to eat or we're going to just die. 13 days for Terri.
Maybe she did say she wouldn't want to live like that. Heck I've said that too.. but.. I know for sure.. I don't want to die like she did either.
Good God.
I think people have a right to die with dignity. I think if any of us are unfortunate enough to be in the situation Terri was in, we should at least be allowed to be guided to our crossing in a gentle and humain fashion.
I don't think Terri's mom would have taken this so hard, if she hadn't had to watch her child starve and dehydrate day by day. A fast painless death would still have hurt Terri's mother, hell yes it would have...but the death Terri died, to a mother, would have to be too much to have to witness and accept without a fight. I'd have faught too.
A mother is a nurturer. It's our job to feed, clothe and protect our children. It's deeply ingrained in most of us. Above all we don't want our children scared, hungry, thirsty, or cold.. to a mother, knowing our children are afraid, or hungry, or thirsty, or cold, kicks in every instinct within us to "do something", to "fix it".
I can say, from experience...as a mother...knowing the men my gals have dated, and in a couple of instances, married...I certainly wouldn't rest easy in my heart or mind with one of those fellas making a life or death decision for my child, should she become incapacitated. Good Christ. Some of them weren't capable enough to order their own Big Macs at McDonald's, much less make such a crucial life or death decision for my daughter.
There was no written directive from Terri.
Michael said she didn't leave a directive, verbally or written when she was first ill.
He remembered she didn't want to be kept alive artificially 6 years later.
Hell yes. I'd have faught Michael Schiavo too.
Posted by juel at April 1, 2005 02:06 AM