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Dear Sirs and Madams,

How very ironic that in a state where so many are elderly, and so some (if not many) remember the atrocities of WWII perpetrated by Nazi Germany and Imperialistic Japan that they do not seem to be able to apply what that generation should have learned to the current legal affair of Terry Schiavo.

Let me see if I can jar some memories, and perhaps educate those too young to remember those times.

In 1933 Hitler came to power. Immediately (and contrary to what many Americans believe was not known by our country until after WWII) a wireless dispatch was sent to the august New York Times from Berlin. On October 22, 1933 a physician named Dr. Haven Emerson wrote about the wireless from the German Ministry of Justice that told authorities “to end the suffering of incurable patients.” The wireless went on to state that “From now on families in which there is tuberculosis, cancer or other serious disease are not likely to receive the extra help formerly given to them. Even the regular aid to them may be cut.”

That was a misstatement to say the least. After WWII it became better known that the disabled were the first to be sterilized, and then euthanized. It started first with newborn infants, then went to children placed into
hospitals or who were in residential schools for the deaf and blind, then by 1939 Hitler extended the ‘right to be euthanized” to adults. By this time, the German people themselves started to be actively perturbed by the deaths
of their loved ones who were placed in institutions for health care, and Hitler had to back off. But in secret he continued the notorious T-4 program for all ages, even for decorated veterans of WWI.

Terry Schiavo’s fifteen year existence in the state she is now and the battle for her life should be jogging a few memories of the atrocities of the Third Reich. Another approximately 2 million people lost their lives that were not counted originally when the death camps were exposed in 1945.

These people were killed originally in hospitals, by the very people who were supposed to be caring for them.

I am not a ‘religious fanatic.’ I am a wife, a mother, a doctoral student with an MS in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, where I worked on neurons and learned all about the brain, trauma to the
brain from injury and oxygen starvation, and vegetative states. I am also a deaf person. Those of us with disabilities are watching what is going on in Florida, and we are waiting. We are waiting to see if other people
understand what could possibly happen if Terry Schiavo is allowed to die through starvation and dehydration. Never mind the fact that this is not a ‘painless’ way to go. Ask any soldier who has been denied food or water, or
any hostage. What many people do not seem to realize is that in every person’s life there comes a time when we are ‘disabled.’ Often that time comes at the end of our lives, but many times it comes during childhood,
youth, or middle-age. It is at that time when people are ‘disabled’ that they become a ‘burden,’ whether on their families or the health system. It is at that time that people are at their point of needing the most care, but
it is also at that time where these people are at their most vulnerable.

There have been several cases of medical personnel who have killed elderly, or the disabled, or even infants because ‘they’ perceived that they would bedoing those people and their families a favor. Outcries were raised to find these murderers, and often it was discovered that these medical practitioners had ulterior motives, such as material gain or the sheer thrill of playing God. So what is the difference between these mistaken individuals, and those involved in the Schiavo fiasco? The fact that it has
worked its way through the legal system? Hey, did those judges go to medical school? Did the media who persistently rants about Terry Schiavo’s vegetative state? So who is playing God here?

Those of us with disabilities and chronic illnesses often choose not to put on our driver’s license that we will be organ donors, even if we believe in this idea. Why? Because we fear to leave an opening for some doctor to judge
that our lives as a person with a difference is less worthy then the life of someone who can pay for an organ, whether through their health insurance or through personal wealth.

So we are watching Florida, and we are wondering what in the world all those elderly people and others who have the potential of becoming disabled or in need of care are thinking when they read biased reports by the media on this
case, and then answer a biased questionnaire concerning Terry Schiavo’s case, about which they know only that which the media feeds them. Just like with the state of Oregon when it passed laws allowing assisted suicide, I can guarantee those of us with disabilities will not be going any time soon to Florida. Ladies and gentlemen of Florida, I would suggest that you make very clear your wishes before you become incapacitated for any reason as to
your health care. Make sure you tell someone who has nothing to gain from your death. Some doctor, judge, or family member may decide to play God with
your life.

Karen S.
(name and address edited by msmagoo)

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do."
-Helen Keller

"You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."
-Itzhak Perlman