Congress? Shamelessly grandstanding? You don't say. You know, for a bunch of "strict constructionists," these GOP lawmakers are awfully eager to crap all over the Constitution when it comes to "activist lawmaking." Laws narrowly tailored to apply to a specific person or a specific case are baldly unconstitutional. As are ex post facto laws. Anything legislation Congress may try to pass to prolong Schiavo's life would fail both of those tests on its face.
If her brain damage has resulted in her being forever incapable of having a rich inner life, that ability to converse internally and appreciate the now and remember and dream that seems to make us distinctly human, then there is nothing immoral in ending her life now.If she is capable of having "a life," as opposed to simply "being alive," then to end her life would be immoral.
That said, if the goal is to end unnecessary suffering, then to allow her to starve to death strikes me as immoral. If the decision is that her "life" is over, and that she is merely "alive," then there's no rational reason not to actively move to end her biological life through lethal injection or the like.
After fifteen years of being not just a vegetable, but a pawn, and, in some instances, a puppet whose strings have been pulled in order for her to perform little "tricks" to show she is alive (again, opinion, I don't believe any of that), is that living a life?
In Andy's comments, Mike Ditto says:
She won't starve to death. She'll have multiple organ failure culminating in cardiac arrest as a result of dehydration, and during that time the nurses will keep her as comfortable as possible by giving her morphine and likely a sedative such as Ativan, as well as artificial tears, saliva, and a lip moistening gel. A side effect of the morphine will be to suppress her respiration, which will hasten the process. Her body will be comfortable. Her mind won't know the difference, because she has no capacity to experience anything cognitively. I've been through this with five relatives in the past 12 years, including my grandmother last month. It's the most humane way to go given the doctor's legal inability to intentionally provide a drug for the purpose of causing someone's body to shut down. When I go, I want to die instantly; but if I were to suffer an extended illness or be profoundly incapacitated, this is how I would want to go.
Article comments
1 - jadester
i couldn't have put it better myself.
I either want to be cremated when i die, or have my body donated to science. And i'd much rather go into the unknown 15 years early than hang on to "life" in a vegetative state.
2 - Tom Johnson
Imagine being held down, underneath layers of dirt or stone or maybe in a wooden box. You see a pinpoint of light above. Just out of reach. You can hear muted voices above you; there are people out there. Living, breathing people who are going about their daily lives while you are trying to claw your way out of your trap, while you are trying to shout to them. But no one hears you. No one knows you are in there.
Beautifully put. This is exactly my feelings on this - if you're laying there for 15 years, and you happen to actually be somehow able to grasp what's going on, those 15 years are pure torture.
However, in Terry's case, she doesn't even have cerebral cortex - it deteriorated to nothing long ago and its space has been filled up with spinal fluid. All that's left is the most basic of "animal brain" components - the very basic control over some body functions like the heart and lungs. She's experiencing and knowing nothing because she has no ability to do so anymore. There's no coming back for Terry, outside of an absolute, confirmed miracle that somehow not only replaces the majority of her brain, but also brings back all her memories. Let this poor woman die. Or at least let her body die - she, her "self," died long ago.
3 - Joel Caris
Meant to comment on your blog, Michele, but here will work just as well. Just wanted to say that I agree with most everything you say here and thought you did a great job of summing up your thoughts on this case.
Oh, and I really hate it when people take personal thoughts like this and then extrapolate them out to completely unrelated situations and make judgements in regards to those situations. Sometimes people are really stupid.
4 - e
Terri should be allowed to die!
5 - Eric Olsen
do you mean she should be allowed to stay dead?
6 - Mark Saleski
only with her parents' consent.