The Fight Over Terri Schiavo

So Congress has put together some plans for keeping a woman in Florida from having her feeding tube removed. She's had brain damage for 15 years and hasn't recovered from it, although her parents and sister talk about being able to have small interactions with her. Her husband is now living with another woman, with whom he has some children. Different courts and legislative bodies have allowed and then disallowed the removal of her feeding tube, with the result that she has almost starved to death a couple of times. And now, most recently, the US Congress has gotten into the act, in a rush for the door to prove they are in favor of "life."

Here's a very good blogsite on the case--it seems to lay the issues out in a pretty neutral way.

There are several troubling aspects to this tragic story:

1. That someone could have a heart attack like this from being bulemic and drinking too much ice tea.

2. That Congress is using extraordinary measures to prevent a woman's peaceful death, in contradiction with what a court found to be clear and compelling evidence that she would make the decision for herself otherwise.

3. That this is not necessarily out of concern for the woman involved. From what I can tell, she's being used as a political football.

4. That the woman's parents are unable to come to grips with the reality that their daughter is never going to recover.

To me, this last problem is what instigates all the others. Blinded by love or something like it, her parents take small signs of connection to mean something other than simple reflexes. So they hold onto hope against all odds, and because she was young and her body was strong when tragedy struck, her physical death can be prolonged for a long time. Should it be prolonged until her parents can accept it? How many parents would willingly accept the death of a child?

A few questions this situation raises:
What makes life worth living? If Terri is experiencing a dreamlike state of comfort and pleasant sensations, life might not be a burden to her. However, not having any conscious thoughts or feelings and not being able to understand her situation may make her life painful and difficult to bear. Is the life of the body worth preserving if there is no mind to go along with it?

How can families learn to avoid difficult conflicts like this one? Is it possible to be reasonable and forgiving in the face of a terrible loss--the loss of a child? What are Terri's parents' expectations for her? What could prevent them from making terrible accusations against her husband in an attempt to discredit him?

What does this teach us about healing and disability? Some people call Terri a disabled woman wrongly sentenced to death. But clearly there is a difference between being brain dead and having a disability. God blesses and loves people who have disabilities, and I believe God loves Terri, but sometimes healing comes through death rather than restored health.