Terry Schiavo – RantFilter
This is just un-freaking-real. You know, when I was studying bioethics in grad school, one of the excuses I made to myself when I wandered away from it was that “Good lord, how many bioethicists can the country possibly need?” Apparently, more than we have, judging from the sheer lack of them that media people, congresscritters and courts have called.
I have had a living will since Texas mandated the procedure of postmortem prenatal ventilation…and as comfortable as I am making this decision for myself, I would still prefer that, in a case like Mrs. Schiavo, someone just put a bubble in my IV, or send me off to Happy Opium World than allowing biology to take it’s course. Cause, frankly…I’m a coward…and I like drugs. 
And therein lies the very mimetic brilliance of the congresscritters and current regime. This case has been framed so as to make people fear the death process, but not consider the ramifications of the feeding tube. And as long as Rush and his ilk keep pounding on the “starvation is a painful way to die” meme…well, we’re going to keep seeing the complete overthrow of our Constitution in the names of carefully selected victims.
Notice that none of the pundits who want to protect Mrs. Schiavo have mentioned that the courts have found over and over again that she told multiple people that she wouldn’t want to live, were she in this position.
Nor have the people throwing accusations that the husband is “in it for the settlement” bothered to do the research and realize that he hasn’t had control of the money since 1998 when he petitioned the courts to allow Terry to die. Mind you, this was 8 years after she collapsed. For 8 years, the husband sought every possible treatment, some fairly quacky, to restore his wife to consciousness.
After 8 fruitless years, and scores of neurologists and tests said that she would never recover, then he petitioned the court to become her ward, and asked them to appoint impartial arbiters to define a solution.
Also note that the parents didn’t try to fight the husband until he refused to give them a share of the malpractice suit. Instead he chose to put the money in trust, overseen by the court.
And guess who’s funding the parents? Just guess. A national anti-abortion group, Life Legal Defense Foundation, that’s who.
Notice that this is the same regime that eliminated Medicare/medicaid payments for people in a vegative state. So, they care about this person…but none of the others, apparently. So, now that medicare is cut…do you think the Republicans and prolife groups are going to pony up that 80k a year if they win? No more than they adopt the babies born out of wedlock to girls who don’t have access to a family planning clinic for birth control or abortion advice. How many senators do you know with a crack baby on board?
Make no mistake, this isn’t about “saving Terry”, this is a blatant grab for control of power away from the states and the individual. This is egregiously wrong, and every single congresscritter who voted for this legislation should be run out of office on a stick. Preferably pointy. (Then again, I think as a matter of course, most of them should be jabbed with pointy sticks regularly.)
This was a slickly marketed, well packaged, superbly chosen case, designed to devastate the systems of checks and balances. And it worked.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that: GOP leaders in both houses describe this case as having to do with the “culture of life” theme expected to be central in the 2006 congressional races. “Their gamble is that the general public will be divided on the issue and will not vote on the subject come 2006, but that the Republican-base … group of conservative Christians will remember this vote forever,” says Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
I can’t believe that more people don’t realize how scary the fallout from this decision is going to be.
I find it a bit disconcerting that the republicans are all gung ho about “save terry” and they just pulled life support from a baby last week.
Oh wait…
That’s right, the baby was black and the mother was poor. No trust fund there.
Oh thank you, this was well-written and I’ve been sort of agonizing over writing a post all day, just sending links and screeds to Billy instead.
I’m so agitated over this issue and I just want to grab random Americans who may be for the actions of Congress and tell them the real facts until I’m blue in the face.
If you can, watch the Daily Show tonight – they just did a large segment on the issue, and it was really well done – hit most of the major points and still managed to not be…I don’t know, rude or anything about it.
I am going to write a living will as soon as I can, though even those are no real guarantee a lot of the time…I made Billy listen to me yesterday, really listen, as I clearly articulated just how much I want to be allowed to die in such situations. If you’re not alive anyway, wtf? (Though I agree with you on doing it some other way than the way Terri will have to go – it’s ridiculous in its own way, that we’re so squeamish of death in general. This could be over with quickly and sanely.
I’ll stop freaking all over your journal now.
Which reminds me…
Does anyone know what the legal ramifications would be if I started passing out adoption forms to folks at pro-life rallies? Specifically, the ones that take place outside of abortion clinics.
What if I just stand there with a bull-horn?
“LADIES! YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET AN ABORTION! THESE NICE PEOPLE OUT HERE HAVE KINDLY OFFERED TO PAY YOUR PRENATAL COSTS AND THEN ADOPT YOUR CHILD!”
Ah…scrap the bullhorn. I think getting beaten to death by an angry mob is a pretty 14th century way to go.
Life Legal Defense Foundation. I saw this one coming down the pike the other day, here we go tying her in with saving babies that aren’t here yet.
The majority of the people in this country right now scare me like I can’t believe. They are truly an unfamiliar alien race, a group that careens out of control, guided by the hand of those that are too blind to steer.
I swear to the father of the one in the swaddling clothes, these people need to be reigned in. But we’re in the minority, our Super Powers have grown weak, we are unarmed against their mighty PR army.
I want to find my cave, stock it with food, and go hide until they kill themselves off. I’ll email you directions in case you’re of a like mind.
If you read the material on the Terri’s Fight web site, it’s pretty clear that all along the parents have only wanted to get physical therapy for Terri and the husband has blocked that from happening. Not only that, but he didn’t want her treated for infections that occurred on more than one occasion, also not a very nice way to die.
I say that if they want to pull the feeding tube, give her a year of physical therapy first. If she doesn’t get any better, then consider it.
Please read the following links:
http://www.terrisfight.net/
http://www.terrisfight.net/myths.html
Listening to the conservative pundits on the radio this morning nearly made me drive off the road and made me feel like I simply don’t understand certain people.
I think you make great points and despite what propoganda web sites funded by anti-abortionists say, the actual case is pretty open and shut. They try to villify the husband and make him seem like a death monger, when in reality it’s far from the truth.
Yes, that story was heartbreaking. I feel sorry for the mom, and totally understand her perspective, but I think ethically, it was the right thing to do. From a political hypocrisy standpoing, however…well, I think I’ll go rant about that.
Oh no worries…I’m good with the freakage. I’m so annoyed right now, I could spit. (If it weren’t just so darned rude…)
I used to do something similar. I have a *presence* when annoyed. Much like a hooded cobra.
I was doing escorts for people into and out of the clinic, through the anti-crowd. (This is back when they could legally try to block people from getting to the clinic.)
Anyway, I would go out there whenever the media would show up, and would lean into camera frame and ask whomever the reporter was interview how many adopted children they had. How many foster kids? Ever seen a minority that wasn’t working for you? This would often get the reporter to cut and reshoot…but asking those questions. It was some of my best social engineering.
Think we can get fiber to the cave?
I’ve read all of those. But I’ve also read all 19 cases that have been in court. I grew up where this case started, and I know some of the people involved. He didn’t request that the state become her guardian and appoint a counsel to see if disconnecting her was the ethical thing to do until *AFTER* he spent 8 years trying everything, every single, possible treatement.
Brain scans that were part of the Florida state court record showed the part of Schiavo’s brain that controls thought and voluntary movement had atrophied. The brain stem, which controls involuntary movement such as breathing and blinking, remains intact.
Remember that Terri’s parents are being managed by Terry Randall…the guy who pickled a fetus and would wave it in the faces of rape victims who wanted abortions.
Her cognitive brain is liquified. There is no brain there. There’s spinal fluid where her brain is. She cannot get better. She told at least 3 people that she wouldn’t want to live like this. I’m sorry her parents can’t let go, but she has the right to die.
And in any case, live or die, this was certainly not a good enough case to overturn the constitution by destroying checks and balances.
“Let it be written, let it be so.”
Where did that come from? Weird how my brain works, coming up with random quotes to things I don’t know. But it seemed to fit, so let’s roll with it.
All of that disagrees with what I’ve read so far. Can you give me some sources?
I know, this case is nothing but propaganda for the Christian right wing.
mmmm…I think it was that strange biblical movie with dudley moore and lorraine newman. It had all kinds of cameos from other folks too…it was sort of Mel-Brooks-like, but not quite.
Start here:
http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/infopage.html#timeline