I started to write a thoughtful piece on Terri Schiavo’s death. What I wanted to write is a Spider Jerusalem-style hit piece on all the idiots in the world who insist on not thinking about the consequences of this great catastrophe.
The problem is – well, mostly the problem is I don’t feel comfortable using a sufficient number of high-quality, foul-mouthed oaths in this very public forum. So, you’ll get what I can give.
I could steal shamelessly from Dickens, “Terri [is] dead: to begin with.” I hate Dickens; but she is dead and someone killed her. This is not a matter of mercy. This is not an issue of benign neglect. How’s that for a twisted phrase? This is murder, pure and simple. You may define “heroic measures” anyway you like but the deliberate withholding of food and water from someone unable to fend for themselves is the most vile form of murder I can imagine. What would you call it if a very small child was deprived of food and water for two weeks? Fuck ’em. What use are they to society? There’s potential, perhaps, but there’s also the chance nothing productive will come of all the effort to feed, clothe, wash, and care for the little rat.
I know her parents weren’t thinking clearly. Who could in that situation? I have no doubt Terri would not have wanted merely to exist – she might have chosen to die – but I doubt she’d have chosen starvation. I hear freezing to death is very pleasant. I can’t shake the feeling her husband wasn’t thinking clearly either. His situation certainly smacks of a conflict of interest. I agree that State and Federal governments wildly exceeded their authority and yet I agree with the concern behind their actions.
The only question remaining is what we all take away from this? Do we continue our downhill slide? Do we poke fun at the helpless through depraved websites and horrifying cartoons? Or do we begin to consider that life has worth; that sometimes life ends in unpleasant ways and for incomprehensible reasons but remember that life is a gift and that even the manner of its end can be a lesson?