I agree with the President. "Err on the side of life." I mean, who wouldn't want to give life a chance? Who wouldn't you want that consideration for you own life!? I would.
In the case of Terry Schiavo, there is no proof, other than her husband's word, that she would not want to be on "life support." I wonder if Terry imagined a feeding tube would be considered "life support." She's living and breathing on her own. She's just unable to feed and cloth herself.
Is that's the litmus test for whether a person dies or not? Quality of life? What about newborns? Two year olds? The mentally challenged or physically impared. What about death row inmates? What kind of quality of life do they have? Yet, they are defended every day. A jury of their peers find them guilty of a capital crime, they are sentenced according to the law, yet people cry, "Unfair. Inhumane! How dare we..."
Life to the guilty, death to the innocent. Barabbas verses Jesus.
I wonder how Terry would feel knowing her husband insist she starve to death even though her parents are desperate to care for her. If they are willing, why is he insisting she die? He's moved on. Has another family. He's been granted over a million dollars in settlement money already. He's free to go on with life. Is he doing this because he loves her? What kind of love is this?It's his word against an innocent, non-communicative woman. How does anyone know what Terry would want but Terry? Where are the feminist? Where is the outcry about doing something with a woman's body that she may not want? The outcry of a man starving a woman? How dare he!
What kind of people are we when we allow a husband to kill his wife? For ANY reason.
Can a husband shoots his wife in cold blood and claim when he's arrested, "She wanted to die and asked me to shoot her."
So, is it legit? No. How is this case any different? You can't ask the murdered woman. You can't ask Terry Schiavo. We, the people, the government, should protect her.
Wasn't it Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia that routinely killed people because they didn't deem their life worth living? We already have the blood of millions of babies on our heads, do we want the blood of the Terry Schiavo's of the world on our hands, too?
Come Lord Jesus, come.
Rach, isn't that almost scary? Our church does a monthly nursing home visit, and some of the residents who get wheeled to our hymn sing, can't walk, can't talk, can't feed themselves, can't respond other than noises. Who's to say who lives, who dies? What's "quality of life," really? Could this inspire other family members to insist that their loved ones "don't want to live" anymore? We've gotten so backwards in our thinking. Sad-sad-sad.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree. I tried to be open-minded; tried to allow myself to consider that this might be the best option in a bad situation. But in the end, I come to the same conclusion. Err on the side of life. Maybe her husband is right. Maybe she didn't want to live this way. But maybe she did. Maybe she still does.
ReplyDeleteAMEN, Rachel; AMEN Lynette; AMEN David. Like David I had the same thoughts but we have to err on the side of life. What disturbs me is that they even take hydration away from her - that is cruel and unusual punishment - why don't the do this to the death row inmates - they're going to dye any way!! If a pet owner deprived a pet of water he would be put in jail. Is human life so disdained?
ReplyDeleteAs an ICU nurse who loves Jesus, I can't imagine that there is one single person that would really want to "live" like Terry. If someone puts a tube down my throat to feed me when I could be in heaven singing and dancing with Jesus, it would be a crime. And please use the thousands of dollars that you would save by letting me worship my God face to face to help poor people who want to experience real life. In this country we go on and on doing surgery after surgery and procedure after procedure on people who will not live and we let people all over the world starve to death who are perfectly healthy. (Let alone everyone who complains of the cost of health care) I don't feel we have gotten backwards in our thinking, I feel we just can keep practically everyone alive for so incredibly long that it is extremely complicated. Believe me, we rarely let someone die. Why not let ANY extra means of keeping someone alive be the choice of the person or their next of kin (or whomever they write in their power of attorney). It is already such a difficult decision and in 24 years of nursing, I've never seen it made lightly. It is usually made by a family member who is only thinking of the best interest of the sick person, because if they were thinking of themselves, they would keep their loved one alive. Talk to your families, but make sure you realize what 14 years of not responding would be like-for you and your family. And realize that Terry did not feel dehydrated. She couldn't drink on her own-she would choke to death, and the tube is extra care that we didn't even have available not very long ago.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are all saying, but I would just like Christians to think about what we are saying about fear of death in this issue. If we really believe in hanging out with God forever, why put tubes in and go on and on trying to keep ourselves from this beautiful hope of heaven?