My heart is breaking today and I have to admit at being beyond angry. The Terry Schiavo case has Jim and I breathing fire. I have hesitated to post about this because I will admit up front, I am in a spit nails kinda mood over this particular subject so audience be fore warned.
As I sit writing this, a woman is being inhumanely starved to death. Since WHEN did feeding a person become labeled as ?heroic life saving effort?? Feeding tubes are NOT classified as life support. At certain stages in ALL of our lives, we are dependant upon some else to feed us.
Jim and I are very strong anti-euthanasia supporters. When people start talking ?life of value? to me I start getting the shakes. NO ONE has the right to determine life of value. That is up to God. I am tired of people pretending to be compassionate with murder on the heart.
I realize that often people argue that it is not ?fair? to expect a person to live a life of suffering and that euthanizing is compassionate. In many cases, I truly understand the heart of this issue. I have watched two grandparents die of cancer. It is an unmerciful death.
We, are not the authors of life and death though. It isn?t our decision. What makes us think we know better than God when a person should leave us?
In the case of Terri though, I would strongly defend that THIS particular case is not a case of compassion (even if reasons of compassion WERE grounds for euthanasia which I would still argue). Let?s review what I understand to be the facts.
First, while ONE Dr. did testify years ago that she was in a vegetative state, MANY Dr.s have since submitted evidence that she is NOT.
Second, Jim and I always look for smoke around these fires. Suspicious to anyone that Terri?s husband is living with another woman whom he has two children by? Very devoted husband. Did you know that medical scans showed countless bone injuries before her collapse many years ago and an investigation was NEVER done to determine how she got these injuries? Then there is the money?.why didn?t her good old wonderful supportive husband divorce her before his adulterous affair I wonder? Follow the money trail. This isn?t hard to figure out.
Third, I listened to a Dr. yesterday who examined Terri personally. He mentioned that children with severe Cerebral Palsy who are being EDUCATED in our public schools systems today, are in WORSE condition than Terri.
Fourth, I listened to a nurse who was with Terri for a year say that she found an insulin bottle covered in the trash and several obscure injections sites on Terri?s body. She was found crying, trembling and shaking. All this directly after Terri?s husband walked out of the room after 20 minutes of private time with her (this was years ago). This nurse went to the police and was fired for circumventing order of authority. Figures.
Fifth, her husband is on court record for trying to deny her medication to help with a urinary tract infection years ago which would have resulted in her death. He has been trying to ?off? her for years!
Why are people so sympathetic to the one who has so much to gain through her death and leave so little compassion to the victims in this situation? I say victims because both Terri and her family are being inhumanely punished. They simply want to love and care for her. How do they stand to benefit other than loving their child??? Yet the courts and portions of public opinion oppose them? Why????? Is our society so demoralized that we continually fight to kill the innocent and protect the guilty? This goes so far beyond reason I don?t even have words for it. (And yes this does lead to my thoughts on capital punishment?I?ll save that for another posting).
I keep hearing talk that her husband has the right to make this decision for her. First and most importantly NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO STARVE SOMEBODY!!!!! ALL people need to eat and it is not an outlandish rescue to feed some one. Even if this were a removal of true life support issue, a man that abandoned his wife for someone else many years ago should not be allowed to make these decisions. Let?s not pretend this man is a devoted loving husband. The evidence clearly proves he is NOT.
A couple of years ago I bought a book called ?The Perfect Persecution? by James R. Lucas. When I first read it I was horrified (very difficult to read) and I thought the author had gone overboard. To summarize, the story was about a culture where babies are aborted up to 30 days after birth. Their organs are saved for donors. The story also details Bioethical Review Boards in the nations hospitals that would determine with each critical injury what the quality of life potential is for each patient. Those determined to have little potential for quality of life (in their opinion) are given drugs to put them in a coma and they are then transferred into a ward of the hospital where they are kept alive for organ donation.
Seemed way too unrealistic for me and I was a little aggravated at how far the author took this because it seemed fanatical. Then I read Randy Alcorn?s ProLife Answers for ProChoice Arguments. Throughout this book there are countless references to discussions of these issues. To name just one example, bioethicist Peter Singer who was a professor at Princeton University has authored, ?On Letting Handicapped Infants Die,? in The Right thing to Do: Basic Readins in Moral Philosophy, ed. James RAchesl (New York: Random House, 1989), 146. He is/was teaching at one of our nations prestigious university?s and he writes in support of a 30 day window for abortion AFTER a full term birth. I quickly realized that James Lucas was not being fanatical. There is a logical end to the slippery slopes we now travel and he was not missing the mark. In the case of Terri Schiavo, we even managed to include torture under the guise of ?compassion?.
This issue (and several others) feels personal to Jim and I right now. The same people who are fighting to murder Terri are likely people who would have fought to euthanize Ty as well. Our son WAS on full life support. Based on the medical facts, there would have been more reasons (by my estimation) for people to support pulling Ty?s life support than Terri?s!!!
There is one particular conversation that took place with me and a nurse while Ty was in the NICU that haunts me to this day. I don?t believe I mentioned many details about our conversation at the time because so many nurses were following Ty?s postings and I didn?t want to highlight this issue at that time. I will share it now.
When Ty was a few weeks old, I had a phone call at 4:00 am from a NICU nurse. She told me that never in her career had she had to rescue a baby the way she just had with Ty and she thought I needed to know that. He was not breathing for at least 2 minutes she said. I was an emotional wreck. When I hung up with her I realized I hadn?t asked all the questions I needed to so I called her back (like I was really going to sleep after that?). Anyhow, in talking with her I made the comment ?I don?t know how my child is going to survive when he keeps having these extended periods without oxygen. I feel panicked about what this may mean to him and what kind of brain injury this will likely result in?. This was her reply:
?Your child has a bilateral hemorrhage. With what I have seen and his hemorrhages, I don?t expect him to have a very positive outcome.?
This said in a tone that I felt implied I was unrealistic for even hoping for him. I was furious with this nurse. A few days later I was moved to great compassion for her though. Two nights later I sat in the NICU at 9:00 PM with Ty as his nights had been worse than his days. I wanted to see if there was any merit to what the nurse had said as I was tempted to think she didn?t have a lot of experience and had over reacted to events that I was actually seeing almost daily. (By my observation, Ty had FAR more severe apnea episodes than any other baby around him during the nearly 13 weeks he was in the hospital). That night, I was holding Ty and he went blue to purple to black. Nurses were yelling down the hall and the code box was opened. Ty?s sats dropped to 12 before I walked into the hallway. I felt I couldn?t watch my child die and I didn?t think they were going to be able to save him that time. At that moment, I understood her. I understood her panic. I understood her venting. I understood why she said the things that she did. Ty had scared her and she was going through her own emotions after having saved the life of my child. I will be forever grateful to her for her life saving intervention. Someday I would like to go find her and place Ty in her arms and say this is the baby you had no hope for.
My faithful web readers now know what she likely does not. She was wrong. This little boy has survived wonderfully. (Again, for the record, has she been correct, my son would be equally precious to me)
This brings me back to Terri. I know first hand that medical professionals cannot predict value of life. Even if Ty had severe cerebral palsy, his life would be precious. Would he suffer? Yes. Would God allow beautiful significance in that suffering? Yes.
It is time for us as a nation to stand up and fight on behalf of life! On behalf of the innocent. On behalf of those who cannot speak on their own behalf.
Personally, I am praying that God will allow Terri to utter even one word before she leaves us. I want those that have supported her death to know that Terri?s blood is on their hands and they are guilty of torture and murder. At this point, I don?t believe they would even allow Terri to speak on her own behalf. Too many reasons to keep her quiet now. Now more people than just her husband need her to die…imagine what she might say to being starved to death. I wish President Bush would send in Federal Marshalls RIGHT NOW. Good grief we will have years and years of discussion about a GUILTY person on death row but we decide to kill an INNOCENT person and we starve her before the appeals are finished??????
Friends and loved ones, I truly have to sign off now. If I say another word I will be at risk of getting terribly ugly about this and I am trying to restrain myself at least a bit. My heart is so burdened by these issues?they hit so close to home. I am going to go hold my baby now and thank God over and over again that everyone who cared for Ty did all they could do to intervene on his behalf. Apparently, few in the world have this kind of love.
For more information on this case, or to help make YOUR voice heard?.see Terri?s site.
P.S. If you think I am on the war path on this issue, you don’t EVEN want to talk to Jim about this!!
18 responses to “Perfect Persecution”
Amen sister niece! We are right behind you and feel the same way. I say send this to the White House – our voice needs to be heard. How long can we who claim the name of Christ remain silent? So again, I’m proud of you!
well-said and right in line with our conversation last night. 🙂 i’m glad you DID decided to speak up on this issue. like you, i’m upset over this issue and found myself praying for terri and her family all through the night – and praying for our nation as well. may the truth become evident and the value of life brought to light. may God be honored in this situation, somehow, some way. may terri’s life be spared and may her story reach many and make a difference to all. may there be enough grace, enough comfort, enough love, enough hope to carry those who LOVE her… may the mercy be new every morning and God’s faithfulness evident in all things. may the voices of those who value and love life be heard and heeded.
Thank you for posting this. I have been wondering about your thoughts and am glad you shared them. So many people do not understand what is truly going on. I cannot imagine what her parents are going through right now, watching their child starve. This is just such an injustice and I don’t even have the words to describe how I feel.
We have been discussing this case in my on-line ethics class for the past month and a half. I too am outraged that people think that starving a woman to death is the most humane thing to do in this case. I will say though, that a lot of people in my class changed their mind on what they thought should be done. A lot of them were just ignorant as to the facts of the case. A lot of people thought that Terri was on full life support (vents and all that) and so that makes it okay to kill her (if you could hear my tone of voice you would know that I am being sarcastic). I think that is ridiculous as well as I have been able to witness many miracles (Ty being a prime example) in which people thought the situation hopeless and the results have been miraculous. Only our creator can say when our work here on earth is done. I will never believe that the courts have the right to say it is okay to end someone’s life. I better stop now or I never will.
I am very saddened by this “controversy” as well. I recently listened to a presentation that suggested we live in a culture of death instead of life — our society fights for the right to disect embryos, perform abortions and “euthanize” people. Being starved and dehydrated to death certainly doesn’t sound humane to me. And what about our basic right to LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS?? The media keeps putting down the “Christian Right Wing” on this issue, but LIFE is something guaranteed us by our founding fathers all religion put aside! I don’t get it how the courts can support death over life. Can’t they read? I had an aunt that had severe Cerebral Palsy. She never walked, never fed herself and it was very difficult to understand her when she spoke. Should she have been starved to death because she couldn’t feed herself? I hope our society swings the other way and starts developing a culture of LIFE . . . I even went so far as to pray that God allows Teri to come out of her “vegetative state” and tell everyone what she wants! I’m sure it would be life! Okay — I’m done =)
Heidi–
I feel the same way. My husband did not even know that her husband had a girlfriend or children. I feel he IS being deceitful and his intentions are not pure. Who is anyone, besides God, to decide when a person’s life should end in these cases. Especially an undevoted husband who has utlerior motives! The dr’s or judges are not mind readers, how do they know she is not really “there”. It saddens me to see a person treated worse than a stray animal, at least some one is compassionate enough to feed them.
Jason had not realized so many things about Terri’s case – he too had thought “vegetative state, full life-support, no function on her own.” He actually read your post! 🙂 He doesn’t read a lot online… but he did at my request and was so thankful to see so many important facts shown in one easy-to-read place. He wondered where you got some of your information – I thought maybe you could list a few references so that others would have sources to look-up themselves, and also to “cover your buns” so-to-speak. 🙂 I know several were radio talk show interviews that you heard – perhaps you could mention the name of the show?
Heidi – I have listened to several radio interviews, read websites including the one I have sited, listened to a lot of news including interviews with Bobby Schindler (Terri’s brother) and some of Terri’s caregivers…you watch much Fox News and you hear an abundance of interviews. Terri’s site has some good fact information on it posted as well.
I am getting pretty confused about something and maybe someone can offer some insight. On the news I keep hearing those that side with Michael say that this isn’t about what Michael wants but about what Terri wants and the courts believed (with no compelling evidence that has been made public) that Terri did not want life sustaining intervention. WHEN DID BEING FED get thrown into the category of life sustaining intervention???? I can’t get past that point and I can’t believe it is being ignored. SHE IS NOT ON LIFE SUPPORT and I don’t know why these people keep using such evasive language pretending she is. Onto my point…they also keep talking about freedom to choose when to end your life. I thought euthanasia was illegal in this country? Am I wrong? Removal of life support is not illegal but to my knowledge a feeding tube is not legally considered life support. The media seems to be presenting a case here for something that I thought was illegal to begin with. What in the heck is the difference between physician assisted suicide (which is illegal…right?) versus a physician simply choosing to let someone starve to death. No one is clearing up these points in the media so I am wondering if I don’t understand current laws.
Heidi – One more thing. This link off Focus on the Family gives some very good documented information that the media chooses not to highlight. http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/facts/a0027736.cfm
Go Doni!
I am so glad you posted on this subject- it’s got the whole nation taking sides and I agree with all of you that most people don’t even know the facts. My heart is breaking for Terri’s family and after watching the news this moring, I am even more saddened that day by day they are watching her fade helplessly. I have friends who say her parents are selfish and cruel to let her continue like this. I believe God determines when we leave this earth and I am not totally convinced she is PVS. Starving her? That is the most cruel and inhumane thing possible. Being fed is somthing Im sure Terri would have wanted, even thought they say she didnt want to be on life support (which she is not- I dont agree that being fed is life support). I pray that it is true when they say she cannot feel, only for sparing her the pain. This woman has been starved two times previously! Now Ive got myself all worked up again…lol. All of your comments were so right on.
All I can say is AMEN! I didn’t pay much attention to this story when it first aired…I am now paying close attention & I am APPALLED! They are killing Terri & it makes me sick to my stomach! Her poor family – I can’t even imagine. Maybe there is nothing all of us can do, but we can pray. I am a TRUE prayer warrior & I believe in the power of prayer! May God intervene immediately! 🙁
http://www.reclaimamerica.org/Pages/News/newspage.asp?story=2550
Here is a link from Michael Schiavo’s interview with Larry King, where he admits he doesn’t know if this is what Terri wants, but what he wants.
I completly disagree with this whole mess. Unfortunatly Michael does have guardianship over Terri, therefore he has the right to speak for her regardless of whether it is moral and ethical.
Terri’s parents should have fought him on abandonment, and started a investigation for abuse.
Praying for a miracle.
Do “they” really think this is what Terri wants? Do “they” honestly believe that she would say “oh yes, please deprive me of food & water so I may suffer endlessly until I finally die.”!?!?!?!? I’m sorry. I need to go calm down. 🙁
It is actually quite affirming that you gals are not calming down. We need more passion in our nation and this is a subject to be passionate about. This woman WAS NOT DYING until last Friday when our nation began a public execution and torture! THAT is something to get very upset over.
It’s almost too much to handle when you really think about the suffering of Terri and the indescribable heartbreak her family is going through… I almost want to shut it off and not know as it breaks my heart too much. But Doni’s is right – we must feel this and speak up wherever we can – go online and sign petitions, call your congressmen/women, speak up in this forum, and most of all – PRAY! We honor Terri when we feel her pain.
I find it interesting this morning that this is happening during Easter week. Look at the road of suffering, the Passion our Savior walked, on His way to be the ultimate sacrifice. His death was slow and torturous. I think of what Terri is enduring and I pray that in her heart of hearts she hears the voice of Jesus whispering to her and that she connects with His undying compassion… He has walked this road – He knows the pain – He knows heartbreak – He is compassionate to those in need. May she sense God’s presence comforting her now and may her parents feel that reassurance as well.
Well said Heidi, I was thinking the very same thing.
And one more thing (oh Doni, you are going to regret having a comment board!), isn’t it illegal for parents to starve/abuse their children? Isn’t there harsh punishment for this? Isn’t it illegal to starve/abuse animals? Isn’t there harsh punishment for this crime also? So why is it ok to suddenly starve a human being to the point of suffering & death? With no repercussions or consequences? I’m confused! 🙁