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First Abortion – Is Euthanasia Next?

By Patti Bankson

March 9, 2005

Books of Interest

Last week’s great editorial on Terri Schiavo made it impossible to resist adding my “two-cents” worth. But too much information and too little space mean you’ll get one-cent’s worth today and the second next week.

Let me start by saying I believe legalized abortion-on-demand started us down the slippery slope of devaluing life. This, Euthanasia, will take us even farther down that slope. Next let me say, “Thank God HER husband isn’t MY husband!” Even in her wildest nightmare, I’m sure Terri never would have dreamed that “til death do we part”, would mean he’d get to decide when her death would come. I’m sure that’s also true for other women whose husbands or boyfriends made that decision by murdering them. The only difference between those men and Michael Schiavo is that the court is helping Schiavo; the others are serving time or being executed.

There are also people in prison convicted of euthanasia - so-called “mercy killing”. I think its wrong, but I also think there may be more “love” in their “reasoning” than there is in Michael Schiavo’s. They didn’t want their loved one to suffer the agonizing pain of a terminal illness. The “only” thing Terri suffers is the inability to swallow. The only thing terminal about her condition is his desire to make it so. The only thing Michael “suffers” is the desire to be free to marry the woman with whom he’s living (he calls her his fiancée’) and with whom he’s had two children. Guess he’s unaware of the divorce option, because Terri’s death seems to be the only option he’ll consider.

What is this man’s motivation?? Apparently, not until after hiring an attorney in 1998, did Schiavo suddenly “remember” Terri had made some vague remarks about not wanting to be kept alive by anything “artificial”. Whether she actually said that or not is a big “so what”? If she’s as vegetative as he says, then she doesn’t know whether she’s being kept alive artificially or not. That means she also doesn’t know whether he’s carrying out her wishes or not. So, why not let her live? Michael, get a divorce. Let her more-than-willing parents assume the burden of her care. Move on. If the days allotted her are over, she’ll die with the feeding tube in place, with loving parents at her side. What’s the harm in that? (Speaking of harm, where does a doctor’s oath to “first do no harm” fit into the abortion/euthanasia picture?)

Maybe the “harm” lies here: At a 1992 medical malpractice trial, Schiavo swore he’d use any award for his wife’s care and rehabilitation and promised under oath to take care of her for the rest of HIS life. Please Note: That was HIS life, not hers. He only kept that oath for a few months after being awarded over $700,000 for her care. There’s more ….