Friday, March 25, 2005
Life
As I write this post tonight, a woman is being starved to death in Florida, because no one can use the common sense to see that the person who claims to have only her best interests in mind might just not have her best interest in mind. I've heard the arguments just about every day, and I have read a fair amount about the case. It just seems bizarre to me that Terri's husband has basically started a new life with another woman. He even has a couple kids with her, yet since he's still "married" to Terri, he basically gets the final say in what happens to her. All he has come up with is "this is what Terri told me." Well, pardon me, but someone who can't even stay with their marital vows (richer/poorer, SICKNESS/health) might not be the most credible source of information.
People say, "the government shouldn't get involved." However, this is a life and death situation, and this woman basically has no one to stand up for her. She can't voice her opinion or make her wishes known. Had she had a living will, I'm sure this would have all been a lot easier.
Just put yourself in her shoes. Suppose you suffered some sort of accident where you weren't in a coma, but you couldn't talk, you couldn't make some sort of response to let people know what you were thinking, but you were alive and cognizant. Then someone just says, "nope, no food or water for you." Can you even begin to imagine what that would feel like? It would be terrible.
If Terri really did not want life support (which, by the way, is not what this is - she needs help eating, not breathing, etc.), and she's in a state where she's not in a lot of pain, what's the harm in trying to keep her alive and hope for a miracle? It is Easter weekend you know. The weekend of the biggest miracle of them all - the miracle of salvation.
People say, "the government shouldn't get involved." However, this is a life and death situation, and this woman basically has no one to stand up for her. She can't voice her opinion or make her wishes known. Had she had a living will, I'm sure this would have all been a lot easier.
Just put yourself in her shoes. Suppose you suffered some sort of accident where you weren't in a coma, but you couldn't talk, you couldn't make some sort of response to let people know what you were thinking, but you were alive and cognizant. Then someone just says, "nope, no food or water for you." Can you even begin to imagine what that would feel like? It would be terrible.
If Terri really did not want life support (which, by the way, is not what this is - she needs help eating, not breathing, etc.), and she's in a state where she's not in a lot of pain, what's the harm in trying to keep her alive and hope for a miracle? It is Easter weekend you know. The weekend of the biggest miracle of them all - the miracle of salvation.
Copyright 2005 Jared Barden
