The mess in Florida
I know I promised that the next time I got around to posting on this blog that I would deal with visual design...However I feel moved to comment on recent events in this society. Theresa Schiavo died today. Now that it's over I feel that the entire matter was a study in why certain things should be kept private and that our government, the government of the greatest nation on earth, needs to really examine why they do some of the things they do. Instead of helping with this obvious problem they decided to turn it into a political arena, moral posturing, lots of energy expended for appearance sake and the real issue avoided like it was a bomb.
Let’s examine the players in this drama. Both sides have a very viable point. First her husband, This man was her husband. Her life partner, the voice to be listened to when she could not speak. He saw the woman he loved and respected unable to speak, unable to attend to her bodily functions, unable to judge what was happening around her, even aware of other people’s presence- somewhat of a waking coma. I can see him looking at the woman he loves and knowing in his heart if it were him, he'd wish that someone would just allow him to pass on. It may seem cruel to say this, but existing like that is not a life, it’s barely an existence.
Then there are the parents. This is their child. The children of a marriage are reason men and woman put up with each other. The children are their future, proof of their existence. The child must be protected, cared for and at all costs be allowed to thrive. IF there was any chance that Theresa might get well then it was up to the parents to make sure her body was maintained for her "return". It is one of the things most mammals do. I recall seeing a program about chimps in the wild. A certain female had given birth to a dead baby. The Chimp mother couldn't accept the fact that the child was a lifeless corpse. She carried the dead baby for days and as recall more then a week, attempting to get the child to nurse, respond, show any sign of life. I'm 48 and I need to be careful what I tell my father. Should I have some small problem he responds by wishing to make it better and dealing with it for me. I usually decline by telling him "I'm a big boy, I can handle it-really" his spoken reason for his over compensating concern? I am his child.
I haven't got a problem with all this. It is a sorry state of affairs and much wiser minds then my own must make this kind of King Solomon like decisions. My problem was the resolve. They withheld food and water allowing this poor woman to take almost 2 weeks to finally die. IF this woman were a sick animal and I were to withhold food and water till the animal died; the aspca would have me brought up on charges of animal cruelty. IF this were done to a prisoner, the person responsible would be brought up on charges of Premeditated Murder. The problem is that if some doctor would take it as his responsibility to give this woman an overdose of Morphine to send her out peaceably, he would lose his license and be brought up on charges of murder. He'd probably be sued by her parents for everything he owns. According to Society it is more "humane" to starve and dehydrate this poor soul...possibly suggesting that if God wishes it to be different then let him heal this poor woman. It reminds me of the former habit society had concerning houses that were struck by lightening. No attempt would be made to extinguish the fire of the house that was struck, as this was Gods will. Thank God Benjamin Franklin invented the Lightening rod. I would possibly put it to these people, if this is Gods will then why attempt to help anyone in trouble? What would they make of the Good Samaritan? When the Samaritan helped a person in need was he not interfering with God's will?
I believe that instead of President dubya Bush flying back to the capital to sign a bill to prolong this woman's pitiful existence, maybe he might look into proposing a law that dealt with such extreme cases. Yes Life is Sacred but and must be maintained if there's hope. However 15 years is quite a while to wait for her to show any kind of progression towards Life. Maybe consider, with the opinion of 6 or more doctors, that the court's decision should be upheld and as with a firing squad we have 12 doctors draw lots and 6 of them pull a short straw and be issued a syringe with a mystery fluid in it. 5 would be saline solution 1 would be an overdose of Morphine. Their job would be to deliver the contents of their syringe to the individual. None of the 6 would know which it was that sent the patient to their final reward, there would be no malice involved and the poor patient wouldn't suffer. This is just one possible solution to all this mess, I see No positive thing that could come from starving and dehydrating a person to death and making their suffering less with the use of morphine. If one good thing has come out of this media circus, this pastime of the masses: people are contemplating their future and making the appropriate plans according to their individual wishes. I don't pray with words that often. My work is my prayers. However I pray that this woman, Theresa Schiavo has paid her karma debt. That her suffering is over and that she has aquired some kind of peace. I promise next time I'll talk about Art. I'm Going to Philadelphia for my birthday to finish seeing the Philidelphia Museum of Art; a project I started more then 20 years ago. I'll be going with friends and will probably have much to say.
Let’s examine the players in this drama. Both sides have a very viable point. First her husband, This man was her husband. Her life partner, the voice to be listened to when she could not speak. He saw the woman he loved and respected unable to speak, unable to attend to her bodily functions, unable to judge what was happening around her, even aware of other people’s presence- somewhat of a waking coma. I can see him looking at the woman he loves and knowing in his heart if it were him, he'd wish that someone would just allow him to pass on. It may seem cruel to say this, but existing like that is not a life, it’s barely an existence.
Then there are the parents. This is their child. The children of a marriage are reason men and woman put up with each other. The children are their future, proof of their existence. The child must be protected, cared for and at all costs be allowed to thrive. IF there was any chance that Theresa might get well then it was up to the parents to make sure her body was maintained for her "return". It is one of the things most mammals do. I recall seeing a program about chimps in the wild. A certain female had given birth to a dead baby. The Chimp mother couldn't accept the fact that the child was a lifeless corpse. She carried the dead baby for days and as recall more then a week, attempting to get the child to nurse, respond, show any sign of life. I'm 48 and I need to be careful what I tell my father. Should I have some small problem he responds by wishing to make it better and dealing with it for me. I usually decline by telling him "I'm a big boy, I can handle it-really" his spoken reason for his over compensating concern? I am his child.
I haven't got a problem with all this. It is a sorry state of affairs and much wiser minds then my own must make this kind of King Solomon like decisions. My problem was the resolve. They withheld food and water allowing this poor woman to take almost 2 weeks to finally die. IF this woman were a sick animal and I were to withhold food and water till the animal died; the aspca would have me brought up on charges of animal cruelty. IF this were done to a prisoner, the person responsible would be brought up on charges of Premeditated Murder. The problem is that if some doctor would take it as his responsibility to give this woman an overdose of Morphine to send her out peaceably, he would lose his license and be brought up on charges of murder. He'd probably be sued by her parents for everything he owns. According to Society it is more "humane" to starve and dehydrate this poor soul...possibly suggesting that if God wishes it to be different then let him heal this poor woman. It reminds me of the former habit society had concerning houses that were struck by lightening. No attempt would be made to extinguish the fire of the house that was struck, as this was Gods will. Thank God Benjamin Franklin invented the Lightening rod. I would possibly put it to these people, if this is Gods will then why attempt to help anyone in trouble? What would they make of the Good Samaritan? When the Samaritan helped a person in need was he not interfering with God's will?
I believe that instead of President dubya Bush flying back to the capital to sign a bill to prolong this woman's pitiful existence, maybe he might look into proposing a law that dealt with such extreme cases. Yes Life is Sacred but and must be maintained if there's hope. However 15 years is quite a while to wait for her to show any kind of progression towards Life. Maybe consider, with the opinion of 6 or more doctors, that the court's decision should be upheld and as with a firing squad we have 12 doctors draw lots and 6 of them pull a short straw and be issued a syringe with a mystery fluid in it. 5 would be saline solution 1 would be an overdose of Morphine. Their job would be to deliver the contents of their syringe to the individual. None of the 6 would know which it was that sent the patient to their final reward, there would be no malice involved and the poor patient wouldn't suffer. This is just one possible solution to all this mess, I see No positive thing that could come from starving and dehydrating a person to death and making their suffering less with the use of morphine. If one good thing has come out of this media circus, this pastime of the masses: people are contemplating their future and making the appropriate plans according to their individual wishes. I don't pray with words that often. My work is my prayers. However I pray that this woman, Theresa Schiavo has paid her karma debt. That her suffering is over and that she has aquired some kind of peace. I promise next time I'll talk about Art. I'm Going to Philadelphia for my birthday to finish seeing the Philidelphia Museum of Art; a project I started more then 20 years ago. I'll be going with friends and will probably have much to say.
posted by ak at 7:53 PM
1 Comments:
It all boiled down to an old argument. Do human beings have souls, or is life just a form of biological machine? If life is just a mechanism, the we might as well pull the plug on anyone who isn't fully functional, the way we junk broken down cars. If it indeed sacred, then we have an obligation to protect it.
Some points:
1. Schiavo was not brain dead. She had minimal EEG activity, but enough for dreams, perhaps, and she attempted to speak, as the video of her demonstrated to anyone who watched it. That's why they had to give her morphine at the end, for the pain. She could feel pain, you know.
She would not have qualified for euthanasia even under Holland's laws, the Euros were even horrified.
2. Her husband suddenly 'remembered' her wishes 7 years after her coma started, when he was living with another woman by whom he had 2 children, and there was a million bucks at stake. He used a lot of that for the court battle, but now she is dead he takes a 300k profit. He never allowed any new doctors to look at her. Some people may think he had the best of motives, but most of us know better.
3. Her family was able and willing to take care of Terri and take on the expense. All Michael had to do was give up custody, divorce her,and marry his new woman. Why didn't he? Well, as one of his buddies stated off the record, he isn't the kind of guy that you tell him he's wrong about anything, period.
4. There is a flaw in FLorida law, which will soon be corrected. In future, a spouse will not retain guardianship if he/she engages in activity that would ordinarily be grounds for divorce.
This argument will go on, but some of us believe that the societal attitude towards human life has gone too far in the wrong direction, towards the machine view. It is true the federal government probably had no business becoming involved. But the horrors of the 20th century loom large, reminding us that some goal posts shouldn't be moved. And we're not all religious!
Glad to see you update the blog. Loved the Eschrick stuff I saw online.
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