Feeding tube removal is just a form of murder
(Note from BB: This letter won a Three-Star rating, which entitles the winner to a free breakfast, courtesy of the paper!)
October 19, 2003
The Tennessean
Nashville, Tennessee
http://www.tennessean.com
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@tennessean.com
To the Editor:
I am sick. Sick, shocked and confused, that I live in a country where a woman is sentenced to die a slow, tortuous death from starvation by an unfaithful husband and an implacable judge. (''Brain-damaged wife being allowed to die,'' Oct. 16)
A woman who cannot speak for herself. A woman who has loving parents and siblings who want to care for her.
A woman who has not been given an adequate opportunity to rehabilitate.
A woman who has had extensive brain damage, but is not a ''vegetable.''
The case of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, whose feeding tube was removed by court order on Wednesday, hits too close to home for comfort. I also depend on a feeding tube for all my nutrition.
Without my communication device, my garbled speech would make as little sense as Terri's grunts. Many people have mistaken me for a mannequin because of my paralysis, but I am very much alive.
We are not always what we seem.
Unlike Terri, my husband-caregiver is my strongest advocate. Mr. Schiavo is nothing short of a villain.
The electric chair was deemed an inhumane method of carrying out the death penalty in most states. How, then, can a judge sanction the slow starvation of an individual who has committed no crime?
Make no mistake, this is murder. If no one will stop this travesty of justice, let it, at least, be mercifully quick.
Erin < full name and address withheld here >
LOL! I guess Erin could say "Great! put my breakfast in the blender and pour it down my tube!" Bravo for her and her letter!!