Excellent post, Michael, and I commend you wholeheartedly for it. I only have one small disagreement with the above sentence. Those who want to ignore the rule of law are not "those in power" who "didn't get their way." Rather, the people who want to keep Terri Schiavo nominally alive at all costs are those who want to ignore the rule of law.
To peach, Howlin, onyx, and trinity, the Neil Boortz quote mhking included in his post is interesting to me, because it askes precisely the same questions I did yesterday in several ways, on several threads. I'm glad someone else has similar insights and, in Boortz' case, a radio forum to share them with a wide audience.
As I've also said a number of times, the Schiavo case is not unique. This morning, Geraldine Ferraro said on FOX News that there are some 30,000 to 35,000 people in the U.S. currently in a similar or identical state. The only difference between them is the epic family feud in the Schiavo case.
If all the people whose passions have been inflamed by the Schiavo case would look to the larger issues highlighted by the case, they might eventually make her inevitable death meaningful. We need a national policy -- national legislation -- to govern how these cases should be handled.
For example, in the landmark Karen Ann Quinlan case, the Supreme Court initially denied her parents' request to remove her life support on the grounds they could not prove that would have been her wishes. Later, the parents were able to prove that in the Missouri courts, and her life support was removed. I don't know what proof the parents were able to provide the Missouri courts.
If there were national legislation which says, among other things, that there must be a written or videotaped declaration from the person before life support (including feeding tubes) can be withdrawn, then the Schiavo case would never have gone as far as it has.
This is the way to turn what is a private family tragedy that's become far too public -- and almost way out of hand -- into a meaningful and constructive historical event.
Excellent.
Agreed.
BTTT
I read that article by Neal Boortz and agree that Terri has been held in a kind of limbo for 15 years.
It is long past time for a national conversation about this matter; I had not realized until early in the week that people did not know what was going on in the country and decisions being made between families and their doctors. Quietly. Without litigation.
But in this conversation I would hope that the government that governs least governs best. Because surely any legislation that gets passed will leave people with our always special circumstances unrepresented.