Saying No to the Culture of Death

The 31st March is day on which we remember that Therese Marie Schindler-Schiavo was called from this life and entered Eternal Life. We mourn her death because she is the woman who represents all of the elderly and disabled who are forced to depart from this world against their wishes. However, we celebrate Theresa's life because of the warmth that she gave to her family and friends. Theresa might be dead, but her legacy lives on and we celebrate that legacy. This is the same date on which I personally celebrate the birth of my youngest son.

In the months after Theresa's murder other cases were brought to our attention, and the members of blogs for Terri were successful in ensuring that others did not face a death via starvation and dehydration. The first case brought to our attention was that of Mae MacGourick, and it was brought to our attention by her nephew Ken. In this case, the grand-daughter wanted to transfer Mae to hospice because she said "It was time for grandma to go to Jesus". Now it seems that Beth was of the opinion that she had the right to play God and decide when her grandmother was to die. However, Ken fought against Beth's plans and Mae was transferred to another hospital where she received treatment for her condition. Sadly, not long after this Mae passed away as a result of another illness, but at least Mae died with a full belly. There was a case in Chicago, brought to our attention by a wonderful pastor who cares deeply for his flock. The woman concerned was "rescued" and the husband was forced to continue her feeding. There was nothing that could be done for the young boy in New York, but at least the justice who conducted an emergency sitting refused to allow the hospital to use this boy's organs as planned. Little Charlotte Wyatt continues to thrive despite the death sentence that has been imposed upon her.

The court sanctioned murder of Therese Schindler has served as a catalyst against the ever insidious growth of the culture of death. The struggle to keep Therese alive gave a new focus to something that had been happening in the darkness, not just in the USA but elsewhere. Therese, in all of her helplessness became the face of the brain injured who have been cast aside by their families. One of the doctors who condemned Therese to death with his lying diagnosis was Dr. Death Richard Crandon, and he had already been responsible for the murder of Nancy Curzon. In this case, Nancy was being spoon fed, but Crandon claimed that spoon feeding was medical treatment and that it was ethical to stop this "medical treatment". It was Crandon's testimony that had condemned Nancy to death. So in reality Terri has been the tip of the iceberg as far as these deaths are concerned. All it has taken is a sudden memory that the brain injured disabled person had declared that he or she did not want to be attached to machines and did not want to be left relying upon others.

If the judge is one who is more interested in getting a name for himself as an activist judge, then he is not likely to be just in his decisions. However, a truly just judge, such as the man who handled the case of Mae MaGourick, will always try to do what is best for the patient. George Greer falls into the category of the unjust judge. In the whole time that he handled the Schindler vs. Schiavo case he constantly failed to consider the civil rights of Terri, and he broke law after law with regards to her rights. What is worse, he accepted the evidence of Michael Schiavo (a man who is liar) that Terri had expressed the desire not to be left dependant upon others. He rejected all of the evidence of the Schindler family and friends in order to pronounce a death sentence upon Terri, and yet he was not a criminal court judge and she was not guilty of committing a civil crime for which the death penalty was expected. The manner in which this case was handled by the probate judge needs to be reconsidered and if there are lessons to be learned, legislation to be drawn up to protect the lives of the vulnerable then something needs to be done to protect the rights of the most vulnerable members of our community.

Although it is not directly related to the state sanctioned murder of Terri Schiavo, there is a case in the UK that has established some very important aspects on case law. This is the case of baby MB who is slowly dying as a result of a disease known as spinal muscle atrophy or SMA type 1. The baby has reached the point where he can only move his eyebrows. The doctors at the hospital where he is a patient wanted to remove him from ventilation and thus cause his death as he would not be able to breathe without the ventilator. The reasons given by the doctors included the value judgement for quality of life. However, the judge in this case did not accept the arguments of the doctors that baby MB should die because of his so called lack of a quality of life. He determined that the child had a quality of life and that since he was cognizant they could not turn off the ventilator. In this very just decision the parents have bought precious time for their son, since his life is going to be very short anyway. The judge also decided that in the future, should baby MB have heart failure due to his condition, the doctors do not have to perform unnecessary procedures that in all likelihood would result in the death of the baby. This is a very fair decision and it is one that should be emulated around the world. What I like about the decision is that Justice Holman followed case law, and that was something that was missing in Schindler vs. Schiavo.