2008 Woodie Awards
Schiavo treated like pawn in right-to-die case
EDITORIALS
Issue date: 3/24/05 Section: Opinion/Editorial
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The tragedy of the Terri Schiavo debacle isn't that she will possibly die of starvation. The tragedy is that she wasn't let go sooner because Congress and President George W. Bush felt the need to interfere with this case so deeply as to shatter every notion of individual and state rights.
At press time, a decision had not been made on whether to reinsert Shiavo's feeding tube, but either way, the government has meddled too much in this situation.
For years, Terri's husband Michael Schiavo has fought to have her feeding tube removed, because he says she told him she would not want to live that way. Terri's parents want their daughter to stay alive.
The fact is, Schiavo is gone. Since her heart attack in 1990, her cerebral cortex has dissolved. There is no more "Terri" in Terri Schiavo. Only her brain stem controls her reflexes and basic body functions, but she has no consciousness. Every independent, court-appointed doctor and every judge has decided that the persistent vegetative state Schiavo is in leaves her beyond any hope of recovery. That doesn't matter, though, to the pro-life advocates and politicians using Schiavo for their own political purposes.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all of this is how Republicans are using Schiavo for political gain. As they mispronounced her name while pontificating on the importance of "saving life," congressional Republicans circulated an unsigned memo talking about how excited the "pro-life base" would be for elections in 2006. Of course, the support Republicans think they will get may come back to haunt them, seeing as an ABC poll taken March 20 showed 70 percent of Americans think Congress was out of line to pass the bill.
In order to gain that political capital, Republicans - and those Democrats who voted for the bill - trampled over our nation's principles of jurisprudence and state's rights. When Florida's legislature passed "Terri's Law" in 2003, the Florida Supreme Court found it completely unconstitutional. This case has been through the courts to the fullest extent, and every review has been exhausted - until Congress stepped in and overstepped its bounds.
Thankfully, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa, Fla. didn't kowtow to the outrageous demands of Congress and Bush, finding no basis in law for a restraining order to reinsert the feeding tube.
Now, Schiavo's parents are appealing the case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Hopefully, the judges will find no basis for reinserting the tube. And voters should remember how Republicans tried to trample on personal rights when they go to vote in congressional elections next year.
But perhaps the most important lesson of this case is one we can all apply: Everyone should have a living will specifying their wishes should a similar tragedy happen to them.
At press time, a decision had not been made on whether to reinsert Shiavo's feeding tube, but either way, the government has meddled too much in this situation.
For years, Terri's husband Michael Schiavo has fought to have her feeding tube removed, because he says she told him she would not want to live that way. Terri's parents want their daughter to stay alive.
The fact is, Schiavo is gone. Since her heart attack in 1990, her cerebral cortex has dissolved. There is no more "Terri" in Terri Schiavo. Only her brain stem controls her reflexes and basic body functions, but she has no consciousness. Every independent, court-appointed doctor and every judge has decided that the persistent vegetative state Schiavo is in leaves her beyond any hope of recovery. That doesn't matter, though, to the pro-life advocates and politicians using Schiavo for their own political purposes.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all of this is how Republicans are using Schiavo for political gain. As they mispronounced her name while pontificating on the importance of "saving life," congressional Republicans circulated an unsigned memo talking about how excited the "pro-life base" would be for elections in 2006. Of course, the support Republicans think they will get may come back to haunt them, seeing as an ABC poll taken March 20 showed 70 percent of Americans think Congress was out of line to pass the bill.
In order to gain that political capital, Republicans - and those Democrats who voted for the bill - trampled over our nation's principles of jurisprudence and state's rights. When Florida's legislature passed "Terri's Law" in 2003, the Florida Supreme Court found it completely unconstitutional. This case has been through the courts to the fullest extent, and every review has been exhausted - until Congress stepped in and overstepped its bounds.
Thankfully, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa, Fla. didn't kowtow to the outrageous demands of Congress and Bush, finding no basis in law for a restraining order to reinsert the feeding tube.
Now, Schiavo's parents are appealing the case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Hopefully, the judges will find no basis for reinserting the tube. And voters should remember how Republicans tried to trample on personal rights when they go to vote in congressional elections next year.
But perhaps the most important lesson of this case is one we can all apply: Everyone should have a living will specifying their wishes should a similar tragedy happen to them.