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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
We, are not<\/strong> 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? <\/p>\n In the case of Terri though, I would strongly defend that THIS particular case is not<\/strong> a case of compassion (even if reasons of compassion WERE grounds for euthanasia which I would still argue)<\/em>. Let?s review what I understand to be the facts. <\/p>\n First<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n Second<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n Third<\/strong>, 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. <\/p>\n Fourth<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n Fifth<\/strong>, 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!<\/p>\n 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?<\/strong> 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? <\/strong> 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).<\/em><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A couple of years ago I bought a book called ?The Perfect Persecution<\/a>? 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. <\/p>\n