More Grey Matter

Terri Schiavo has now died. I think this whole story emphasizes the importance of a living will – because you just don’t know what's going to happen. However, I think the story is really sad and tragic. I don’t want to get into the possible ulterior motives of her husband or the loss that her family feels. Nor do I want to speculate on whether or not it was possible for her condition to improve after 15 years, or pontificate on the supposed "slippery slope" that the US has just stepped on in allowing her to die.

I think what's most sad and tragic about this is that it turned Ms. Schiavo into a pawn for the political agenda of the right wing. Anyone who thinks Bush actually cares about the sanctity of all human life should look at his capital punishment record while he was Governor of Texas. Ditto for brother Jeb in Florida. Not to mention that Bush sent scores of America's Sons & Daughters over to Iraq to fight a war based on false pretenses. Oh yeah, Bush cares – it has nothing to do with paying back his right-wing Christian Coalition cronies. Also, Tom DeLay, House Majority Leader, agreed, along with the rest of his family, not to put his father on dialysis when his kidneys failed and had a "Do Not Resuscitate" order for him back in 1988. You’ll remember that DeLay called removing Schiavo's breathing tube and "act of barbarism" and championed a political intervention in the case. But I'm sure that has nothing to do with wanting to deflect attention away from mounting allegations regarding his slimy dealings.
http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/delaycasefile/index.html

I don't have a living will yet, but I intend to make one. I don't know at what line I want to die but I know that I don't want to be in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, with no chance of getting better. I don’t want to be a drain on my family and I don't want them to remember me more for my vegetative state than when I was actually alive. At the same time, I want to make sure I've been given every chance to recover and rehabilitate before someone decides to pull the plug.

I think medical advancements have outstripped dying with dignity. It is possible to keep someone alive purely by artificial means for years with no chance of them living without the machines or regaining consciousness. I also don't think there is a slippery slope. We're not going to start killing off the Down's Syndrome kids and then start marching the Jews back to the gas chamber.

One thing I am very clear about in my mind, however, is that if members of my family ever debate over whether I should be allowed to die, and I somehow become a cause célèbre for the political right as a result (which would be hard because I'm Canadian, but if it happens), remove my feeding tube immediately. I absolutely refuse to be a pawn for the Christian Coalition, right-wing political agenda. If my family ever does let it get to that stage, and allows the fate of my being become a media circus where all the usual suspects (Jesse Jackson, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Republican Party) gather to bask in the spotlight, you can bet that when I do die, they'll have to answer to me on the other side. In fact, if they do let that happen, and they then follow my wishes to have my feeding tube removed, I am also requesting that they read the above statement to the press – on Fox News.

Come to think of it though, what’s worse? Being a cause célèbre for the American right, or a martyr for them?

Good article from the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times – found on michaelmoore.com
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2071