At least Terri's plight has shone a bright light on something that has been sneaking up on us:
[James] Bopp [of the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled] says the raging debate over Schiavo is shining a light on a practice that had become increasingly common. "This has been going on without public attention," he says. "It's prevalent now, that people who will live for years but whose lives are viewed as not worth living are being starved and dehydrated to death," he says. "This is focusing on the problem."
That will make some people kind of sad:
Mr. Meisel of the University of Pittsburgh also sees the Schiavo debate as a setback for right-to-die advocates. "There has been a period of legal development since 1975 in which it had become increasingly accepted to terminate life support - including feeding tubes - for a person in a persistent vegetative state," he says. "This whole episode will call that into question in doctors' minds."
I hope so. There sure are an awful lot of people out there who live at the mercy of others.
But maybe not just PVS patients. Once the door is cracked open and heated discussion takes place, the next case will be less emotional and the case after that a mere blip on the radar screen of public debate. It will be easier, not harder, to accept the various means and criteria to end life. And the other means, means which may horrify us now, will become commonplace and defended. I sincerely hope I am wrong, but I see the "old camel's nose under the tent" thing.
Posted by: Diane at March 23, 2005 08:52 AMCAN MICHAEL SCHIAVO BE CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER?
Posted by: SM at March 27, 2005 12:06 AM