Live or Let Die
As anyone in America who hasn’t been living in a cave doubtless already knows, center-of-controversy Terri Schiavo is still making news. The circumstances surrounding this 41-year old brain-damaged Florida woman need not be repeated here, partly because that would be repetitive and partly because simply thinking about it makes me very depressed. The latter might even surprise those that know me fairly well, because few are aware that I faced a similar dilemma with my beloved daughter, Lydia Rose, near the end of her life.
The doctors told my then-wife and me that we should consider having a feeding tube for Lydia as her deteriorating neural condition would soon mean that she would not be able to swallow. When faced with the idea of having maybe another six years with her in a vegetative state, we opted to let her die. The official cause of death was “dementia” caused by metachromic leukodystrophy. Really, she starved. That’s what happens without nutrition and hydration. Don’t let anybody varnish over the truth.
Certainly, the decision was partly selfish. But for me it was a decision made out of love. If Congress, the president, and many citizens around the world has their way this week, showing my love means that I deprived Lydia of her 14th Amendment rights. I was not a fit parent. And I was a murderer.
Fortunately, not everyone agrees. “An ABC News poll showed that most Americans disapproved of Congress's intervention. Two-thirds said they thought lawmakers were using the case of Terri Schiavo for political gain, and 70 percent deemed the congressional action inappropriate, according to the poll published on Monday.”
Perhaps it is just emotion that makes me say this, but this might be a time to throw out the First Amendment because I feel that those who have never had to make such a decision should simply shut up. This is not your fight. Now go away and leave the family alone.
