When is enough enough?
I’ve been following the saga of Terri Schiavo loosely since someone posted a link to the Terri’s Fight website on a message board almost 2 years ago.
I’ll be up front – I strongly believe that each individual has the right to decide under what circumstances they want medical intervention to cease. In the absence of their written wishes (i.e. a durable power of attorney for health care – more commonly known as a “living will”), their statements made while living, even casual statements, must be relied upon. In reading the court opinions, I believe that Terri Schiavo would not wish to live in a persistent vegetative state. I believe she wouldn’t want pictures of her in her hospital bed widely disseminated. I believe she would be horrified by the video of her that is available for the curious to download from the Terri’s Fight website established by her parents. I believe that if Terri could tell us what she wanted, she’d say “enough”.
This case has been hard fought for seven years in Florida’s courts and in the court of public opinion. There have been numerous motions, hearings, appeals, requests for review – the whole spectrum of legal maneuvering and mud slinging at Michael Schiavo – and it all boils down to the initial finding that this isn’t what Terri would have wanted. In my opinion, this isn’t even about Terri anymore; it’s about her parents, it’s about the right-to-life movement; it’s about Jeb Bush’s alignment with conservative Christianity and grandstanding, it’s about one group of people forcing their beliefs and opinions on another individual or group of individuals. It’s about taking away the right of the individual to make decisions about their own life, or the end of that life.
I have the utmost sympathy for the Schindlers. I do. They have lost their daughter, and what’s worse, they haven’t acknowledged that fact, so have been unable to grieve. They, like Terri, are caught in the limbo of the continuing court processes to ensure that every possible avenue is exhausted before Terri’s death is brought about. They are focusing all of their strength and energy into remaining in the “denial” stage of grief, and refusing to acknowledge that they must move forward, if not now, eventually. By some accounts, they intend to keep her alive at all costs, regardless of what her wishes might have been.
So I say enough is enough. It’s time to let go. It’s time for the involved parties to take a step back from their hurt feelings, and their animosity, and their own personal opinions and think, really think, about what Terri Schiavo would want were she able to voice her opinion. Does anybody really think, accepting as fact that Terri Schiavo’s cerebral cortex is gone, replaced by fluid, that she would want her life to be the subject of so much argument and animosity between the people she loved – her husband and her parents?
I’ll be up front – I strongly believe that each individual has the right to decide under what circumstances they want medical intervention to cease. In the absence of their written wishes (i.e. a durable power of attorney for health care – more commonly known as a “living will”), their statements made while living, even casual statements, must be relied upon. In reading the court opinions, I believe that Terri Schiavo would not wish to live in a persistent vegetative state. I believe she wouldn’t want pictures of her in her hospital bed widely disseminated. I believe she would be horrified by the video of her that is available for the curious to download from the Terri’s Fight website established by her parents. I believe that if Terri could tell us what she wanted, she’d say “enough”.
This case has been hard fought for seven years in Florida’s courts and in the court of public opinion. There have been numerous motions, hearings, appeals, requests for review – the whole spectrum of legal maneuvering and mud slinging at Michael Schiavo – and it all boils down to the initial finding that this isn’t what Terri would have wanted. In my opinion, this isn’t even about Terri anymore; it’s about her parents, it’s about the right-to-life movement; it’s about Jeb Bush’s alignment with conservative Christianity and grandstanding, it’s about one group of people forcing their beliefs and opinions on another individual or group of individuals. It’s about taking away the right of the individual to make decisions about their own life, or the end of that life.
I have the utmost sympathy for the Schindlers. I do. They have lost their daughter, and what’s worse, they haven’t acknowledged that fact, so have been unable to grieve. They, like Terri, are caught in the limbo of the continuing court processes to ensure that every possible avenue is exhausted before Terri’s death is brought about. They are focusing all of their strength and energy into remaining in the “denial” stage of grief, and refusing to acknowledge that they must move forward, if not now, eventually. By some accounts, they intend to keep her alive at all costs, regardless of what her wishes might have been.
So I say enough is enough. It’s time to let go. It’s time for the involved parties to take a step back from their hurt feelings, and their animosity, and their own personal opinions and think, really think, about what Terri Schiavo would want were she able to voice her opinion. Does anybody really think, accepting as fact that Terri Schiavo’s cerebral cortex is gone, replaced by fluid, that she would want her life to be the subject of so much argument and animosity between the people she loved – her husband and her parents?
2 Comments:
You've said it much better than I could. If I were Terri, I would want them to let go too.
Amen!
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