How Dare We?

When Terri Schiavo was denied food and water by order of the court, it took her thirteen long, slow, distressful days to die of dehydration. Thirteen days. It would have been kinder to shoot her. But that would have been against the law, and we know the law is just.

Funny how, long after you've forgotten everything else about some big story, one detail will stick in your mind. Have you ever sat by the bedside of a dying patient - a father or mother, perhaps of some other loved one - and given the patient a little cracked ice? And seen the relief and the inaudible "thank you" in the drug-dimmed eyes? After all the futile treatments and the succession of helpless doctors, when grief has come even before the death, you sit there with a little cracked ice and think, "At last I can do this one thing right. I'm not totally useless." However much or little the ice might help your patient, it does wonders for the caregiver. You suddenly realize why people go into nursing. Can there be any greater satisfaction than this?

But when the law decreed that Terri Schiavo was to be given no food or water, it MEANT no food or water. That's what the court, the sheriff's deputies, the whole clanking machinery of the law was there for - to see that the severe decree was carried out. That's what the new art and science of bioethics at the dawn of the 21st century had come down to in the end: NO CRACKED ICE FOR TERRI SCHIAVO. The doctors and nurses who had cared for her for years were now forbidden to give her even a single chip. That's the detail that has stayed with me.

All credit due Mr. Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

It is not enough to simply remain silent and "respect" a law that is immoral. Sometimes it is not enough to declare that the "law is the law". The perverted laws in this country that have allowed courts to declare a life not worthy of respect are laws made by blinded man. Whether we are talking about Terri Schiavo or the over 40 million unborn children who have been slaughtered, we are still talking about LIFE and not some mass of flesh to be used or disposed of at our leisure.

I will say it: Terri Schiavo should not have died in such a manner. Her death was ordered by the courts, appealed to by a man with suspect motive. Of course we will never know whether Terri had actually spoken words to her "husband" to the effect of, "let me die..." under certain circumstances. But there was enough doubt and her family's willingness to take over her care that the LAW OF THIS LAND should have acted with caution and restraint. Terri's death should not have been ordered by the US GOVERNMENT.

I applaud President Bush and the Congress for coming together to address this issue. I am equally saddened that the momentum for doing the right thing died with Terri. We are nothing if not life itself, an incredible gift the value of which is immeasurable.

How dare we?