Poor Terry Schiavo.

It's hard not to feel bad for someone who suffers brain damage and goes from being an everyday person to a vegtative state... trapped in a bed. The controversy around this case is frightening when you look into it, and I get the feeling I'm not getting the straight story no matter what I read...

On Euthanasia

I support a person's right to die with dignity. If I were reduced to a vegetative state, and could not express myself, or do anything, with no hope for recovery, I would want to be allowed to die quickly and painlessly. It would be better for me, and would in theory shorten the anguish being suffered by those that loved me.

But what is being proposed for Terry Schiavo is not ordinary euthanasia. She breathes unassisted, her heart beats unassisted... beyond a feeding tube, there are no machines keeping her alive. Her husband says that Ms. Schiavo would not want to live this way and has had her feeding tube be removed.

Because she cannot take in food normally, she must be fed through a tube that connects driectly into her digestive system. This is how she gets nourishment and water. With the tube disconnected Ms. Schiavo will die of thirst or starve to death within a two week period.

If I were comatose or otherwise vegetative, I would not want to starve to death. I would rather be given a sedative to make me sleep, and then a second lethal dose from which I would not awaken... a peaceful, restful death.

Is allowing Terry Schiavo to starve to death mercy? Or cruelty? Apparently her doctors say that she would be in no pain because of her condition, but it's fairly easy to say someone feels no pain when they can't express themselves.

Living Wills

Because of the controversy around this case (Ms. Schiavo's husband believes that it is her wish to be allowed to die, while her family insists she should be allowed to live) many folks have been talking about making a Living Will lately.

A living will is a document, an agreement, that you can make that dictates how you wish to be treated if you enter a chronic comatose or vegetative state from which you are unlikely to return.  You can dictate, for example, that if after 90 days or 6 months, or whatever, your doctors are of the opinion that you will never recover, then you are not to receive any sort of life support and be allowed to die.  (Note that euthanasia is still not an option.  You can choose to be unplugged from life support devices, but if you need only a feeding tube, you have to choose starvation.)

A Living Will sounds like a good idea, because it would theoretically avoid the kinds of problems that plague cases like this.  No longer would it be an issue where family members would take sides and rip the family apart over whether or not you should be kept alive in such a state.  Ultimately you have authority over your own medical care, and a Living Will makes clear what your wishes are, even when you are no longer able to express them.

Of course the downside is that if you have a change of heart but suffer a brain injury before you have a chance to update your Living Will, your last set of wishes may not be honored.

In a case like Terry Schiavo's though, even a Living Will would probably not help.

The Controversy

If only Terry's case were that simple.  Her husband Michael Schiavo (who now has a girlfriend by whom he has children) maintains that Terry would not want to live in a permanent vegetative state.

Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler are making a number of claims.  It is impossible to tell how many of them are factual, if any.  But the claims are compelling.

They claim that Michael Schiavo wants to allow Terry to die so that he can pocket the remainder of the award from the malpractice case he won back in the 90's.  The point of the award was to pay for Terry's care but the parents claim Michael is using the money to support his "playboy lifestyle".

In a recent statement Bob Schindler insinuated that Michael Schiavo was in some way responsible for Terry's condition, and the reason he wants her to die is so that she never recovers and is able to finger him as culpable.

The Schindlers claim that they have been denied access to Terry's medical records and information about her treatment.  They claim that Michael Schiavo has refused to allow recommended therapy treatments for Terry throughout the 90's.

They dispute the claim that Terry is in a permanent vegetative state, instead describing her condition as a minimally conscious state.  They claim that she responds to them, smiles when she sees them, sometimes cries when they tell her they need to leave, attempts to speak to them, and so forth.  Their website "Terrisfight.org" includes video clips of Terry that seem to be fairly convincing that someone is actually there and responding in a limited way to stimuli.

My problem is I'm not a doctor, and I don't know if Terry's behaviors in these videos are simply random and are being interpreted otherwise by hopeful family members or an uneducated layperson like myself.

With respect the claims of Terry's parents, if you believed your child could recover and somebody else was trying to let him or her die, what wouldn't you say to keep him or her alive?  Personally I can't think of anything.  I say this not to belittle their claims.  For all I know they are 100% accurate, but I can't help wondering how much of it is an act of desperation to save their child.

What is clear is that Terry can open and close her eyes, make moaning noises, move her lips slightly, and look about.  She certainly is not comatose, nor is she catatonic, and beyond the feeding tube she is not on any apparent life support system.

Grandstanding politicians aside, everyone seems to be touched by the Schiavo case in one way or another.  Recently a certain Mr. Herring offered Michael Schiavo one million dollars to remove himself as Terry's guardian and to allow her parents the right to oversee her medical care.  The offer was refused.

Conclusion

Terry Schiavo's feeding tube was ordered removed on March 18'th at 1:00 PM.  The family is desperately seeking intervention anywhere they can to get the tube reinserted.  It appears that even the recent (and apparently legally questionable) actions taken by Congress have failed to accomplish this.

I feel terribly for Terry and her family, for anyone who has to either suffer such a condition, or suffer for a loved one similarly afflicted.  The only thing clear to me in this case is how unclear it is.  I suspect people will ponder and debate this case long after Terry passes away.

It bothers me that I will never know if the decisions reached in this case were the right ones.

Poor Terry Schiavo.