Terri Schiavo is dead. I will fully admit that I have watched this case with a distinct fascination for the past couple of weeks. Sure, you can talk about her, and the husband, and her parents, all parties seem flawed to some sense and I've seen cases built against each one of them. In a way, it's sad that each one of them have been put in such a public spotlight, exposed to such scrutiny when really, this should have been such a private, personal matter. Unfortunately, this whole thing was turned into a much bigger issue, or should I say issues, both personal and political that has sparked debate not only about matters of life and death, but also the reach of government in our lives and just what judicial tyranny is.
Most everyone now knows the story, Terri Schiavo, married to Michael had lost a lot of weight in the 1980's, and was suffering from an eating disorder, that likely caused her collapse in 1990. The cause of her cardiac arrest is believed to be due to a bulimia nervosa-induced hypokalemia (abnormally low levels of potassium in the blood). At first, Michael tried several therapies with Terri in hopes of rehabilitating her, but by 1994 it was clear to him that she wasn't going to escape from her condition, described by most doctors who observed her as a persistent vegetative state. Terri had already been living for more than 3 years on a feeding tube.
Terri's parents, the Shindler's, who had previously been supportive of Michael's efforts, didn't agree with Michael's wish to allow Terri to discontinue therapy attempted to have Michael removed as Terri's legal guardian. They were unsuccessful. Michael, citing conversations that Terri wouldn't have wanted to be kept alive by artificial means filed a petition to discontinue life support in 1998, and the legal battles began.
Getting away from the personal fight, many have sighted the cold decisions of the courts in these cases, wondering why they are not more compassionate, but then go on to rail about activist judges when they hear a ruling they don't agree with. The problem is, the courts aren't supposed to be compassionate here. Their duty is to interpret the law and mediate the circumstance. Here they looked at the case as it was; you had a legal guardian acting in a manner consistent with legal precedent in other end-of-life cases. You had a woman who was, by most medical experts, not going to get better or see an improvement in quality of life, and the was no living will. Hearsay was the closest evidence that was available to know what Terri's wishes may have been.
The courts of Florida ruled, and were appealed to a few times, and finally, in 2003, the final appeal to the Florida Supreme Court was dismissed, and the feeding tube was removed, but then the Florida Legislature and Jeb Bush got involved, feeling it was their duty to right the wrong that the courts had failed to do. They passed legislation that was later found unconstitutional for intervening in a judicial matter, which returned the feeding tube. This matter was resolved just this year as the US Supreme Court dismissed the case.
But that's not where it ended, no, once again another group of legislators, the Republicans in the US Congress decided to move the original case from the state to federal level in an unprecedented move to get involved in the lives of individual citizens. What's truly sad is that this move was more grandstanding than anything else. The legislation did nothing more than create a new round of judicial appeals, which only check that the case was handled appropriately. It was a last gasp effort for Terri's parents, and a circus that legislatures could use next year when many of them have to run for their seats again.
Still, the hope that voters would see them in a compassionate light may not have worked, as many polls show that the majority of people feel that congress overstepped their bounds. They believe that Michael Schiavo should have the authority to make decisions for his wife, and according to and ABC poll, 70 percent of Americans believed that Terri's death should have been a private matter, not federal. In the same poll, a 63 percent majority said that they support the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. A 67 percent majority agreed with the statement that "elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or for the principles involved."
Still, what's really going on is a set up. The idea of Republicans being for small government seems to be at an end. The group of legislators that have been coming in since the "Contract for America" crowd in 1994 seem to be getting more and more happy with finding ways government can serve them, and finding ways that they can get it to achieve the results they want, not worrying about pesky things like deficits and responsibility. A move like the Palm Sunday Compromise, a bill that was passed just so one case could be paraded from state to federal courts is only made to create publicity and to try to reverse an unpopular ruling. No other American benefits from this legislation.
The problem the Republican Congress-members and President Bush face is that they don't control the judiciary. Bush's appointments to the courts have often been stymied and Judge Rehnquist still holds on in the Supreme Court. You here them, and those who support them like Limbaugh and Hannity call for reigning in "activist judges" who are purposively making up all sorts of new rules with their decisions. recently it was said that judges were "in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people — our Constitution." That quote courtesy of our president. The problem is, several of the judges in question in the Schiavo case were placed there by Republicans. Still, when you are trying to make a case, you can't have easily demonize a set of bad judges and still have a set of good judges that come to the same conclusions. You have to hit the whole lot.
Of course, it seems that the Judiciary is noticing this, as the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, asked to review the Shindler's case for a second time addressed the Congressional criticism directly. "We must conscientiously guard the independence of our judiciary and safeguard the Constitution, even in the face of the unfathomable human tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo and her family," Atlanta judges, Justice Stanley Birch, Jr. wrote in his scathing assault on the law as an intrusion into the judicial branch of power. "Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper," wrote Judge Birch, appointed by President Bush's father.
In the last week there have been several calls for Congress to limit the ability of the judiciary to rule on cases, or to do away with many levels of the federal judiciary altogether. Do they really want to give up that power to the states? Something tells me that they just aren't thinking the whole thing through, but this shouldn't surprise anyone.
One of the things to come out of congress' taking of the Schiavo case was a memo, which may or may not be fake, that was reportedly circulated by Republicans that said the case was "a great political issue" and "would appeal to the party's base", somewhat diminishing the idea that the party members were standing up on purely moral grounds. Our own Texas congressman Tom DeLay wanted to make sure that people knew that he was so concerned about Terri's life (no matter what condition she was in) that he said managed to call Michael Schiavo's manhood into question, asking, "What kind of man is he?"
Given that just a few years ago, that Rep.DeLay was involved in a family decision on weather or not to continue life support for his father, and they chose not to, one has to wonder, what kind of man is he?
Of course President Bush had to traipse lightly as well on this issue as he wanted to, as he put it "always err on the side of life", but he was being haunted by the fact that a boy was being removed from life support in a Houston hospital against his mother's wishes because of a law Bush signed as Texas governor that allows removal of life support in certain cases. (It is to be noted that this law wouldn't have applied to Mrs. Schiavo, since there was money enough to continue treatment.) This seemingly goes against the "culture of life" argument that has been pushed by many religious-right and Catholic Church voices over the last few weeks, but it's another instance of the interests of big business (in this case medicine) getting a hearing in political circles.
The "culture of life" term has been used a lot this past week, and not surprisingly, it was coined by Pope John Paul II, who even now is fighting for his life, and is on life support. Apparently he is an example for this, as it is his wish to preserve his life as long as possible, by whatever means necessary. He has even admonished the use of Living Wills, stating that they lead to euthanasia and the early end of life by human hands. Catholic no-nos. Still, the reverse, the use of the words "culture of death" have been used to demonize those who not so much would agree with killing, but would not act in favor of keeping someone, like Terri alive.
This is true for the abortion movement as well. One can hope that there was never an abortion performed, but realistically supports the right to choose, and is therefore labeled as being one who supports death. Would one claim that Tom DeLay is an accomplice to murder, in wanting to end the suffering of his father? There are some that would. Here, when Judges would not choose to help Terri Schiavo, must be dealers of death themselves. It's an odd black-and white demonization that happens way too often in this country.
Millions of people make these decisions every day for their loved ones. I believe this is why the poll results turned so much on the do-gooder congressmen. Too many people have been there, watching a loved one suffer, wondering what is the right decision, and weather it's the right time to say goodbye, or to keep hope alive. Many times it's a few days, not very often does one keep on fighting for 15 years. People let go, and move on. It's not that people aren't valued; it's just that their lives have come to a point where it may be much more painful to keep going.
Still, the crowds came, and watched. I'm not sure what they thought they could do, holding their vigil outside the hospice where Terri was. Perhaps they hoped that their prayers would help, or their protest would change people's minds, but in the end, it seemed that some of them just made fools of themselves, running in trying to bring water and food that could have ended her life that much quicker. They chanted and prayed, and made you wonder who gets that much time off, anyway? The one message I kept hearing out of that crowd, and others who were against the removal of the feeding tube, was that you wouldn't let a dog go without food and water.
We have euthanasia for our pets. This isn't allowed for people in this country, but it's something that probably should be reconsidered, with many caveats. I know that one of the qualifiers for many people is that people have souls and pets don't, but I know I could find just as many people who would argue that point as well. Certainly most would think euthanizing someone just because they were inconvenient would be wrong, but when it truly comes down to a near death period, such as alleviating the suffering of a loved one who will die, there may be something to think about. The arguments for and against "mercy killing" will continue long after this case are long over, but would the crowd praying for Terri rather she wasted away, or was released from this world quickly?
Many people already call Living Wills passive euthanasia (hence the Catholic Church's stance against it), but due to the Schiavo case, more and more of them are being created right now. Will Congress make changes to preserve the "culture of life" in this country, or was it all a political flag-raising? Only time, will tell, but it will be interesting to see what comes next from this.
For more information, there's some great information at Wikipedia:the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
