Missing the Point - Terri's Legacy

The results of the autopsy performed on Terri Schiavo are now public. As with the pre-death coverage, much of the media is trumpeting the autopsy results as a vindication of Michael Schiavo's (most recent) position. I say "most recent" because for several years after her mysterious fall into the abyss of brain damage, his position was that he did not know what her wishes about end-of-life were. Somewhere along the line, Michael "remembered" that she would have wanted to die if in that condition. His memory conveniently revived after shacking up with a new girlfriend and fathering a couple of children with her.

But that is all old news. The conservative right is not entirely blameless in this issue either. Their rhetoric centered on purported evidence that Terri was not in a persistant vegetative state. The autopsy results "seem" to contradict that. PVS should not be the clincher in this deal.

Consequent fallout from the autopsy shows test-which-way-the-wind-blows politicians shuffling their positions, so as not to be found on the unpopular side of the debate.

The medical examiner said very plainly that Terri's condition was not life-threatening. I even heard a talk radio show caller twisting his logic in a pretzel to avoid calling her death a "killing." What else could you call it? The medical examiner stated that she could have lived on a decade or more if cared for. She had a family willing to do that.

On the other side, you have a legion of "right-to-die" advocates who found an easy mark in Michael Schiavo to get their cause in front of a sympathetic news media. Schiavo's lawyer even wrote a book about the tactics. How much more bald-faced can you get? The "death is so blissful" descriptions of Terri's last hours were enough to make a calloused person wretch.

My wife and I care for her severely and profoundly mentally retarded brother. He has never been "normal." He is non-verbal. He can't tell us "where it hurts." He requires total care. He must be fed, diapered, bed-bathed, moved around in his bed to prevent bed sores -- he is 58 years old. In spite of that, there are crystal clear evidences of "personhood" in him. He never had an opportunity to "decide" if he wanted to live. Who will decide for him? Jesus gave a very compelling standard to us when he said "Whatever you have done to the least of these, my brethren, you have done to me." That is the way we treat him and he returns joy to us.

The upshot of media coverage and popular opinion is this: Michael Schiavo, the justice system, his lawyers all "did the right thing." If so, will our society begin systematically "helping" other non-persons enjoy the bliss of their right-to-die?