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Jan. 30, 2005 A week or so ago, I wrote an article here decrying the medical establishment's plans to kill Terri Schiavo at the behest of her husband-- a man who has refused to honor his marriage vows and has been living with another woman for some time and even has a child by her while his wife lies ill in a nursing facility. Since that time, I've received several e-mails castigating me for opposing her murder on various grounds: "She doesn't have much "quality of life," "her reactions to her mother on tape were edited," "she's little more than a vegetable," and "her husband doesn't want a divorce and for him to be happy, they need to let her die." The arrogance of these e-mails was astounding. My first question, of course, is "who gave any of these people the right to assess Terri's "quality of life?" She can't do much on her own, but she has parents perfectly willing to do FOR her. She breathes on her own, her heart beats on ITS own and she can obviously see and hear and react to various stimulae--most especially the tenderness of her parents. I don't care if every "neurologist" in the State of Florida says she's vegetative--anyone watching her can see that she's not. Whatever happened to medical ethics? For that matter, whatever happened to the concept stated in the Hippocratic oath...first do no harm? An oath is a promise and a vow to either do something promised by that oath or to promise NOT to do something. It's giving one's word, and it involves one's sense of personal honor. Am I wrong and honor is no longer fashionable? Honor isn't some passe concept involving dueling. It's simply giving one's word and KEEPIING it. All physicians are required to take that Hippocratic oath (or at least they USED to be.) The first line of that oath is to do no harm. Does no one understand that killing someone--even if you believe they'd be "better off dead," a ridiculous idea at best--is the LAST thing a doctor, a healer, is supposed to do? Terri Schiavo is badly injured and suffered brain damage, but no doctor can tell us what might be going on in her head. She COULD be completely aware of her surroundings, enjoy visits from family and be lying in her bed thinking for herself, remembering the good times from her past and harboring hope for her future. She's apparently in no pain--at least she doesn't cry, moan or display discomfort in any way. She DOES, however, smile and articulate primitively with grunts and other such vocalizations. Who can say how much she is aware of? Certainly, I wouldn't trust those who stand to benefit from her death to make that determination. "Benefit" from her death doesn't have to be monetary to be for selfish reasons. Michael Schiavo stands to benefit from Terri's passing simply by being relieved of the burden of knowing that his wife currently is standing in the way of marrying his current squeeze and the mother of his child--even if Terri's estate HAS been depleted by the cost of her care. The doctors benefit by opening up another bed and hospital room for someone else--maybe someone better able to pay the big bucks for their care than Terri is. The only people who don't stand to benefit from Terri's death are her parents who have offered her husband all of the marital assets, whatever is left from her estate and offered to take full responsibility for Terri's care, if Michael will just divorce her (or get an annulment by the church) and walk away. So far he's refused. One can only wonder why. Maybe the case has generated so much national and even international publicity that giving up and walking away might be construed as his having venal motivations all along. Whatever the case, Mr. Schiavo should quit trying to have his wife killed. It's neither the moral thing to do nor the ethical thing to do. ------------ About the author: David A. Jared is a news junkie, semi-retired and an avid golfer who's been writing his first book, "4000 years of chopsticks" for the last 20 years. Email: Pappadave@sbcglobal.net ------------- All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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