Sacred Institution

The time has come to let Terri Schiavo die
Bush Signs Bill That May Let Schiavo Live

I feel sorry for a lot of people involved in the Terri Schiavo situation. I feel sorry for her--no matter what instructions she did or didn't leave before she slipped into this vegetative state 15 years ago, they surely didn't include a legal battle that inspired Congress to get involved. I feel sorry for her parents and siblings; they're clearly suffering from denial as a result of their grief. I feel sorry for her husband; he's proven by now that this isn't about the money (he refused huge sums, well in excess of any money he might gain when Terri dies, to step aside) and that he simply wants to do right by the woman he married and prevent her from existing in a way that she didn't want to exist.

But today, I feel sorry for the judge who will have to hear this sob story and render a verdict knowing that Congress came into session on Palm Sunday to force the case into a new court and tried to write the outcome into the bill it passed. It will take courage of conviction for the judge to look at the facts and see what everyone else who has judged the case has seen: Terri is never going to "get better" and her husband is the only person who can decide, in the absence of written instructions from Terri herself, what should be done. Arthur Caplan is quite convincing on this point:

Remember the recent debate about gay marriage and the sanctity of the bond between husband and wife? Nearly all of those now trying to push their views forward about what should be done with Terri Schiavo told us that marriage is a sacred trust between a man and a woman. Well, if that is what marriage means then it is very clear who should be making the medical decisions for Terri — her husband.

Courage, judge. The House GOP may want your head if you refuse to reinstate the feeding tube, but you'll have the American people behind you, for once:

70 percent of Americans say Congress' action was inappropriate and 67 percent thought the elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive were doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or the principles involved.

I realize that the 30 percent in that survey are probably much more motivated to act if the decision doesn't go their way, but it's helpful to remember that all of this is happening because a vocal minority has grabbed this as a cause and demanded action. If a similarly-sized group decided it wanted action regarding something of actual national significance, like extending the sacred bond of husband and wife to same-sex couples, imagine what could happen...