Ceres Records - Prose & Art Gallery

TERRI: We Wouldn't Do This to a Dog

IF Terri Schiavo were a convicted murderer, people and agencies would be bending over backward to prolong her life, seeking desperate stays of execution. But oddly, because it is someone like Terri Schiavo, it is not generally viewed in the same way as execution. What is now happening, however, is in no uncertain terms the slow and painful execution of a woman who cannot help herself.

Feeding and fluids are not "heroic measures" and are not considered heroic measures in hospitals or nursing homes. This woman breathes on her own, and only needs feeding because she cannot swallow.

To take away food and water in this case is murder, plain and simple. Terri Schiavo is FAR FROM a "flatliner."

Guardian: n. a defender, protector, or keeper. (Oxford American)

Terri Schiavo has parents who want to care for and to provide therapy for her, which has been long denied by her "husband." This man, Michael Schiavo, Terri's 'guardian,' has absolutely NOT been her husband for many years. He has been in a common law association with another woman for nearly a decade and has two children with her.

So Terri has parents who want to take care of her and have the resources to do so. Where can the harm possibly be to allow her to live under their care? The picture of Terri going home with her parents is a compelling one. Wouldn't it have been better to have erred on the side of futile or unnecessary therapy as opposed to having withheld potentially crucial rehabilitation? We will never know the truth of that.

The law is not always just. In this case it is legal murder. Terri Schiavo's husband was cruel to her before her illness, and the circumstances of how she became brain damaged are cloudy and filled with potential untold stories.

I believe that Terri Schiavo's ex-husband has insidious motives for wanting her dead. His actions prove that he does not want her to live, much less recover. At best, he wants to forget, and having Terri dead would certainly be a more convenient way to achieve this.

But last time I checked, it was [still] illegal to kill someone just because you wanted to.

I believe that Mr. Schiavo's denial of Terri's right to rehabilitative therapy is ample proof of his harmful motives. AT BEST it is proof that he has never been a fit guardian. All of the settlement money that was to have been used for Terri's rehabilitation went into Mr. Schiavo's pocket.

Secondly, Mr. Schiavo did not ever mention Terri's supposed statement about not wanting to live in a vegetative state until he became involved with the woman who is now his [other] wife. I do not believe that the undocumented rememberance of a casually made statement constitutes a living will. In many states, even that hand-written or typed living will that you have in your drawer is not a substantial enough legal document to support euthanasia.

What harm could it possibly do to let this woman live?

How stupid, or worse, how wicked is the American public to think that starvation and dehydration is not a painful and unbelievably cruel way to die? Are we going to allow ourselves to be hoodwinked, when we have all seen the videos of this woman following a balloon with her eyes, most definitely awake and blinking - into believing that she is not now suffering in dire fashion, deep in the cruel torture of starvation and dehydration?

Whitewashed news reports mention "the facility where Terri is being cared for." Why not say "At the facility where Terri is being starved to death?" or "At the facility where Terri is being murdered" or "At the facility where Terri's execution is taking place?" How about "Here in FL we are witnessing the ninth day of Terri Schiavo's execution by starvation." Please do not tell me that this woman is being "cared for." I certainly hope that I am never subject to that method of "care." I would NEVER let them starve my mother to death - would you allow that for your family member? Or better yet, would you allow someone to starve your dog to death? How about your cat or other beloved pet?

If we were doing this to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, there would be an immediate international outcry - but because it is Terri Schiavo, and because there is a euthanasia movement afoot, we are going to stand by helplessly, or worse - in agreement.

Euthanasia - n. the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The practice is illegal in most countries. (Oxford American)

The execution of Terri Schiavo is NOT euthanasia. The term euthanasia could only be applied when a being is unable to live without life support. Many people in America live on feeding tubes without others trying to kill them for it. They would be appalled if the way were paved, as is happening now, for perfectly viable people to be starved to death for no reason other than that their 'guardians' decided that they would rather them dead. (!)

If a woman approached you on the street, and said "I am starving and thirsty," you would immediately take her to a hospital. If it were found that she could not swallow, she would be fed intravenously -- such treatment would not even be considered "resuscitation" -- as all humans, animals and plants would "shut down" without food and water. Witholding these necessities would be unthinkable.

I support euthanasia:

1. If the person has clearly, legally requested it and 2. if the person is a true "flatliner" that is, no EEG activity, on a respirator, etc. - that is, if they would die quickly and without a struggle if life support were removed.

However, to sentence someone to a death that takes days or even weeks, and is painful in the extreme, is cruel and inhuman. If Terri Schiavo were a dog, PETA and the SPCA would be sponsoring marches on Washington to keep her alive.

Terri Schiavo, for whatever reason, in a society whose middle name is contradiction, is being treated worse than a dog, worse than a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay and worse than a convicted murderer.

What is wrong with us?

By Julie Dalia

Please pray for Terri Schiavo, that her suffering is lessened, and for us, Americans who stand by watching as public executions take place.

Someone once said to me that a key evaluator of a culture's merits, maturity and longevity is the degree to which it cares for and tries to raise up its weakest members. I believe that this moment is a clear mark in time, an omen spray-painted on the subway, starkly echoing points along that precipitous and ineffable downward spiral which marked the fall of Rome. We are on that downhill slope; we have been there for a long time.

Other Writings:

Upon completion [an impossible feat] of a geneaology:

The blood of the whole world runs though my veins.

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My next bumper sticker:

At least I know I'm lost.