One Thing Regarding Terry Schiavo
I have generally been avoiding any comment on the Terry Schiavo debacle, especially here on the blog.
I have finally given in, however, and feel the need to make a quick comment. I'm not interested in summarizing the entire debate of either side, as that has been accomplished numerous times on either side of the issue. If that's what you want, just tune into Fox News or CNN, as they have virtual 24-hour coverage of this issue right now.
I will not even argue either side of the issue, because even though I hold a position on the issue, I don't hold it strongly enough to discuss it here.
Here's all that I want to offer up:
If you want Schiavo to be able to die, why would you want her to die via the slow, excruciating methods of starvation and dehydration?
What really, truly bothers me in this instance is not that they removed the feeding tube per se, but that they have ordered that no attempts be made to provide her water or food by mouth. Removing the feeding tube is one thing, but when a patient is able to swallow, denying that person food or water just seems so much more cruel to me. This may also create a slippery slope regarding euthanasia of the elderly, but I won't hash that argument out.
If your living will notes that a loved one may pull the plug on you, you may want to add a notation that you are not to be starved to death.
Now, I realize that I began this post by saying that I avoided Schiavo and that this was just a "quick comment" type of post, but I will be posting again in the next day (or sooner) regarding this issue. In my own defense, I will mention that the next Schiavo post will be about this same issue, so it is really more of an extension of this post, with one exception: I will be focusing on ACLU's position. Good times.
To be continued . . .
This entry was posted
on Friday, March 25th, 2005 at 09:59 by Novac and is filed under All, Health, Politics.
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