The Culture of Each Life

Newsweek, MSNBC Columnists ^ | April 4, 2005 | Anna Quindlen

[thinkingman129]

Please, I imagine myself saying to the editor, don't put that picture of her on the cover. Use the picture from years ago,...

It is a shame that anyone released those images. She should have been remembered for what she was, not what's left of her. We all know the story now. A raft of doctors said over the years that Terri's reactions were purely reflexive, that she would not recover, that she would never be more than the vessel in which her spirit once lived, like a music box that no longer plays. The courts ruled over and over again that her husband had the right to withdraw a feeding tube in deference to what he said were the expressed wishes of his wife. Her parents objected. Congress passed legislation, spitting in the face of the courts—as well as states' rights and the separation of powers—but even the last-ditch federal jurists had the strength to uphold the law. Arguments about Terri's case centered on something described as a "culture of life." It is an empty suit of a phrase, absent an individual to give it shape. There is no culture of life. There is the culture of your life, and the culture of mine. There is what each of us considers bearable, and what we will not bear. There are those of us who believe that under certain conditions the cruelest thing you can do to people you love is to force them to live. There are those of us who define living not by whether the heart beats and the lungs lift but whether the spirit is there, whether the music box plays. There are two different opinions about what the culture of her own life meant to Terri Schiavo....

[thinkingman129]

Interesting viewpoint. This is an excerpt. The entire article makes a good read. If you read the whole article online, do you think her view is intolerable or compassionate? My mother-in-law (age 79) said the same thing about the 'photos.'

[Darkwolf]

"Congress passed legislation, spitting in the face of the courts—as well as states' rights and the separation of powers"

Ridiculous. Quindlin's (sp?) opinion is clear as day only reading this far, the usual lib crap.

South Park made the same point in a more pointed way. I don't need Oprah authors lecturing me on how the government works.

[ClancyJ]

They call it "spin".

[Darkwolf]

I'm always amazed when libs like her suddenly discover the greatness of states' rights. I am guessing she was against federal intervention in desegregating the schools when certain Democrats tried to stop black kids from getting their educations. Surrrrrrrrre she was.