Isn't it ironic?
Terri Schiavo is in the condition she's in because of complications from an eating disorder. Now, she'll die because her feeding tube was taken out. Talk about irony.
I usually don't get into heavy, controversial stuff on this blog because I'm too sensitive to the negative comments I would get. But I can't keep quiet about this. I'm upset with the people who don't understand that the court battles are about what Terri wanted. I've lost track of how many judges ruled that there is evidence that she didn't want to be kept alive like this. Her parents do not have evidence that she wanted to be kept alive. It seems totally reasonable to me that she would tell her husband about her wishes and not her parents. Husbands and wives tell each other things every day that they don't tell their parents.
I realize that this isn't the same thing that Michael Schiavo is going through but, my ex is paranoid schizophrenic (and has other medical/mental illness conditions). When I realized I couldn't deal with any of it anymore, I was ready to move on way before he was ready to let me. So, I can't blame Michael Schiavo for moving on. There's no evidence that he was having an affair before Terri's heart attack and subsequent condition. In my opinion, he's being realistic by moving on. But ... and this is a big but ... if we are to believe him, he's still fighting for what his wife wanted. Dan Abrams had a good point last night. He said he hoped his wife would fight for him this hard if he'd made his wishes known only to her.
I also realize putting a pet to sleep is not the same as deciding to remove the feeding tube from a human being. However, five years ago this month we had to decide whether to put our 13-year-old beagle to sleep. Because we don't have children, she was our baby. Only pet owners, especially those without children, can understand the bond between a pet and her people. The reason I'm writing about this in relation to Terri Shiavo is that it's a quality of life decision. Our dog's back legs were paralyzed and the vet said "There's nothing I can do for this dog." Yes, we could have kept her alive but she would have had to scootch around on her butt because there was no hope for recovery. Could we do that to a dog whose passion in life was running in the woods? No. As I said, a dog and a human are not the same but the quality of life issue is the same.
I do feel bad for Terri's parents. Of course they don't want their daughter to die. Of course they want to keep her alive. Of course they say they will see that she's cared for. But ... is that what she wanted? I wish her parents could look at that as the main issue. Perhaps they could see that, because of their daughter, thousands of people now have Living Wills because they don't want their families to go through what this family is going through. If her parents could see that their daughter has left a legacy and her situation has helped so many people it would be easier to let her go.
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