Outside View: Why the furor over Schiavo?
(Note: This is OUTSTANDING! This lady, Jane Orient, has hit the nail
squarely on the head! Bravo, Jane!)
March 23, 2005
By Jane M. Orient, Outside View Commentator
United Press International
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Tucson, Arizona - Imagine, Congress delaying its Easter recess,
and the president of the United States making a special trip from the
ranch to Washington, all because of one brain-damaged woman in
Florida! Terri Schiavo has been in her current state for some 15
years, and a Florida judge has determined that her appeals have been
exhausted, and it's time to get on with 'the process'.
No more "medical treatment" -- such as food and water
through her longstanding stomach tube -- not even a sip of water from
a teaspoon.
The scene does somewhat resemble an impending execution. There are armed guards at the door to her cell.Visitors are severely restricted. People are kneeling outside, keeping vigil and praying. Parents, family and others are besieging the legislature and the governor's office to grant a stay, to reopen her case, and even to change the law. But there are more differences than similarities between this and an execution. The governor can't grant a pardon or stay the process, lest he interfere with the final supreme authority of the judicial system. The method is not designed to be quick and painless -- it could drag on for two weeks, with the person being subjected to the excruciating agonies of dying from thirst.
A physician, who would be ethically barred from giving the lethal
injection at an execution, pulled out the feeding tube.
Most importantly, the sufferer has not been convicted of any crime.
The process is not a punishment, of course. Rather, the Florida judge is said to be 'protecting' Terri Schiavo's "absolute right to die," carrying out a wish that she supposedly expressed many years ago.
Some medical experts say she is in a "persistent vegetative
state", with no awareness of her environment.
Her parents and others are merely imaging things, say these experts,
when they perceive that she is trying to communicate with them, saying
she wants to live.
Terri Schiavo is not the only patient slated to die of dehydration.
It might happen thousands of times every year -- usually behind closed
doors. If statistics are kept anywhere, they aren't being publicized.
But in this case, unlike the earlier cases of Karen Ann Quinlan or
Nancy Beth Cruzan, the patient's parents are fighting tirelessly for
her life, instead of begging the court to "allow" it to end.
This time, the American Medical Association has been silent, at least in public, although former AMA President Nancy Dickey spoke, on national television, in favor of depriving Nancy Beth Cruzan of nutrition and fluids.
Not all doctors agree that Terri Schiavo is in a PVS.
Judge George Greer decided to ignore the declarations of some 30
medical experts who contested the diagnosis.
There are advanced tests that might show evidence of brain function,
but the Court refused to permit them, although some studies have shown
that as many as 18-43 percent of patients said to have PVS are
misdiagnosed.
Such patients may be very aware of their environment and quite capable
of experiencing pain, while being unable to communicate their thoughts
and feelings.
Why doesn't Michael Schiavo just divorce his wife and allow her parents to take Terri Schiavo home and care for her?
And why are his very expensive lawyers continuing the fight while
saying they are no longer getting paid? Is it tender concern for Terri
Schiavo's feelings?
It is interesting that Michael Schiavo wants instant cremation,
without an autopsy, and one may wonder why.
If there had been any spousal abuse or attempted murder, an autopsy or
further tests such as a CT scan of the neck might reveal evidence for
it.
Supporters of Terri Schiavo's right to live are accused of having a
political agenda -- as are the partisans on the other side.
A particularly interesting hate message that I received after
notifying some Florida doctors of pending legislation to protect
Terri's life said that "it's all about abortion!"
Indeed! There are some similarities.
An innocent but not quite "fully human" subject, unable to
speak for itself.
A procedure that would be extremely painful to a sentient being or
even an animal.
A legally immunized death-producing act.
A being that is unwanted by its guardian, though possibly very much
wanted by others.
If Terri Schiavo has the right to live, what about unborn babies who
have much more potential for a full life than she does?
If Terri Schiavo's parents can prevail over her husband, could a
father or grandmother or social agency prevail over a mother who at
least at one point in time doesn't want her baby?
Are supporters of Michael Schiavo determined that Terri Schiavo must
die to stop a potential torrent of questions?
The ones about other hospice or nursing home dehydration deaths could
be only the beginning.
Meanwhile, Americans are being urged to write up their living wills
and advance directives, so their life support can be terminated
without all this legal fuss.
But some might want to specify, unambiguously, that they don't want to
be left to die of starvation or thirst.
Otherwise, if ever brain damaged, they might not even get a
Miranda-like warning such as the one suggested by neurologist Lawrence
Huntoon, M.D.: "You have the right to remain silent when doctors
ask you to perform, but if you choose not to respond or are unable to
respond, your food and water may be taken away by a court of
law."
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Jane M.Orient, M.D., is a practicing internist and the executive
director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are
written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of
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