Question: If the Republican sock-puppets who passed the Schiavo law weren't doing it mostly for political posturing, why didn't they just do what they've made abundantly clear they expect the federal judiciary to do: Order the doctors to put the feeding tube back in. What hypocrites they are.
Amen
This is a truly lose/lose situation for everyone involved - not the least of which is the woman's poor family. I can't even begin to imagine.
But there are two other losers here no matter how this plays out:
(1) The courts rule to spare her "life" and resume feeding and hydration, thereby giving the right to lifers a victory.
(2) The action is legally upheld (which, gratefully, seems to be the case thus far), and the liberals are "nailed to the cross" for "killing" a woman over Easter.
Absolutely NO ONE wins in this case. No one. It's PRIVATE - and it should have remained so all along. It reminds me of the Karen Ann Quinlan case from when I was a kid: Karen Ann Quinlan was the first modern icon of the right-to-die debate. Quinlan collapsed at a party after swallowing alcohol and the tranquilizer Valium on 14 April 1975. Doctors saved her life, but she suffered brain damage and lapsed into a "persistent vegetative state." Her family waged a much-publicized legal battle for the right to remove her life support machinery (unlike Terry Schiavo - she was on a respirator). They succeeded, but in a final twist, Quinlan kept breathing after the respirator was unplugged. She remained in a coma for almost 10 more years in a New Jersey nursing home until her 1985 death. She was fed and hydrated through feeding tubes. They only disconnected her life support, not her feeding.
I think also what gets lost in these "culture of life" discussions is that it's not enough to fight for someone to live. It is also humane and Christian to make sure they have Medicare to cover their condition if other types of insurance are exhausted and that that people have legal recourse if they wind up in this state through the fault of others. Yet, with the passage of the Medicare bill and tort reform (not to mention general funding cuts for the states), it seems that conservatives draw the line at making sure you stay alive. Everything else after that is your problem
I think also what gets lost in these "culture of life" discussions is that it's not enough to fight for someone to live. It is also humane and Christian to make sure they have Medicare to cover their condition if other types of insurance are exhausted and that that people have legal recourse if they wind up in this state through the fault of others. Yet, with the passage of the Medicare bill and tort reform (not to mention general funding cuts for the states), it seems that conservatives draw the line at making sure you stay alive. Everything else after that is your problem