Even a conservative newspaper is starting to get the true picture!
Schiavo autopsy should teach valuable lesson
UNION-TRIBUNE
June 17, 2005
Three months after Terri Schiavo's death, the public debate should now end. An extremely detailed autopsy report, released this week, answered just about every question raised over the past 15 years in this tragic right-to-life case.
Schiavo was 26 when she lost consciousness in 1990. Her heart did not function for an hour on that winter morning, and blood did not flow properly to her brain. The ensuing brain damage left Schiavo able to breathe or her own, but she could not take in nourishment. Some doctors thought Schiavo's heart may have stopped due to bulimia. She had lost more than 100 pounds since her teenage years.
Over the next few years, Schiavo's husband, Michael, cared for her and attempted to rehabilitate her, including flying to California for experimental surgery that did not work. Then, about seven years ago, as differences between Michael Schiavo and Terri Schiavo's parents emerged, the case went from a private tragedy to one that would become very public.
A legal tug of war between Michael Schiavo and Robert and Mary Schindler over the care and custody of Terri Schiavo went to six courts, including several trips to the U.S. Supreme Court. Terri Schiavo left no living will, and Michael Schiavo argued that his wife would not have wanted to remain in what had been labeled as a "persistent vegetative state." He wanted the feeding tube that was keeping her alive removed. Understandably, Terri Schiavo's parents did not. The legal fight was over who had the authority to make that decision. The courts said in nearly two dozen rulings that Terri Schiavo's husband did, in accordance with state law.
Somewhere along the line, Terri Schiavo became a symbol in an argument over life and death. It was an argument that touched most Americans, particularly aging baby boomers with aging parents. While the Schiavos and the Schindlers were going through their personal ordeal, legal and moral issues were being publicly debated.
For the most part, it was a healthy discussion. But some who disagreed with Michael Schiavo's decision began to accuse him of abusing his wife and wanting to kill her for his personal reasons. Money and the fact that he had formed another family were chief among them. Near the end, his motives were even questioned on the floors of the House and Senate, as Congress debated and eventually passed legislation demanding that federal courts rehear the legal arguments. President Bush even interrupted his vacation in Texas to fly back to Washington to sign the unprecedented legislation.
But the autopsy report showed Michael Schiavo had been right. Terri Schiavo's brain had withered to half the normal size. She was blind. Her life was being extended artificially. And there was no treatment that would have improved her condition.
There are well-intentioned people on both sides of the right-to-die argument – and there are opportunists looking for a cause. Terri Schiavo's long and painful struggle should teach us that these are very personal issues that those of us who are not there cannot judge. It is enough that we plan wisely for ourselves and our own loved ones. |
