“Terri Schiavo - Reflections One Month Later”

Quite often time will allow wounds to heal, fondness to grow, grief to subside and even anger to mellow.  Sometimes passage of time is needed before a problem can be understood more clearly.  However, a month following the starvation death of Terri Schiavo I find I’m still haunted by a myriad of very troubling questions, none of which have easy answers:

• Why were so many people in favor of letting Terri die even though she was responsive to stimulation and not in a true persistent vegetative state?

• Why wasn’t Terri provided routine medical examinations and promising therapy after litigation over her original hospital treatment was resolved in 1992?

• Why would a “husband” abandon his commitment to care for his wife for the rest of her life once a financial settlement was resolved in his favor?

• Why would a “husband” remember his wife’s concern about being kept alive on tubes only after a two year litigation is resolved (in his favor)?

• Why would “hearsay” from a husband with a personal conflict of interest be accepted as compelling evidence of Terri’s desire to die

• Why didn’t even one judge rule to provide custody of Terri to her loving parents that were willing to assume all responsibility for her?

• Why would a “probate” judge be the one to rule on a life and death issue concerning a disabled woman?

• Why didn’t one judge see a conflict of interest in Michael Schiavo’s standing as Terri’s husband when he was living with another women and had two children by her?

• Why would judge after judge up to the United States Supreme Court not find one simple reason to rule in favor of life when cold-blooded murderers are released over technicalities?

• Why would our government order a woman that has not been accused or convicted of any crime to be allowed to die?

• Why would our government inflict upon a disabled woman that cannot defend herself a punishment (starvation and dehydration) that would result in a jail term if done to a pet?

• Why would our government inflict “cruel and unusual punishment” on an innocent woman that would not be tolerated for mass murderers?

• Why didn’t our government do its job to condemn evil (those wanting to kill Terri) and commend good (Terri’s parents) and do the right thing?

• Why would the United States Congress and President try to intervene in the life of a single citizen and be overruled by a single Federal court judge?

• Why would we think this will be the end of euthanizing the disabled, weak and frail that cannot defend themselves?

• Why are we surprised that the “death with dignity” philosophy has lead to a virtual “duty to die”

• Why is our nation not ashamed of itself for taking the life of an innocent, disabled woman when we harangue other nations over human rights violations?

• How could it be that the laws of our land allowed this travesty to occur?

I have only one possible answer to the above questions, as difficult as it is to write.  The Lord Himself took this woman’s plight, elevated it to national and international levels, and had her death by starvation and dehydration extend over thirteen days so we could not possibly ignore it.  After 32 years of legalized abortions for any (or no) reason, after probably thousands of infants and elderly have been euthanized by family or doctors because their “quality of life” is less than ideal, after all this destruction of life, this case has shamed us - as a nation and as a community.  We as a people have failed to protect and honor an innocent life, just as we have for millions of others.

We have learned a lot about ourselves and our nation in the last several months.  We have seen very vividly the advance of the culture of death that has invaded our lives for decades.  Unless we stand up and say no more, where do you think this will end?  What are we going to do?  How are you going to make a difference in the future.  The time has come to take stock and to be like the men of Issachar (1 Chron 12:32) who “understood the times and knew what to do”.  May we now consider what we need to do, and begin to do it.

- Frank Kacer