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Jewish World Review
April 4, 2005
/ 24 Adar II, 5765
Where was the outrage from feminists and disabled rights activists in Schiavo case?
By
Lia Macko
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The deafening right-to-life and right-to-die cacophony of the Terri Schiavo case should be muted by what the case also says about a woman's rights in marriage and a disabled person's right to self determination. In essence, the tragic case holds that an estranged husband with conflicted motives has the absolute right to end his wife's life-without any reliable documentation of her desires. Terri Schiavo never wrote a living will or other document asserting her wishes, and a court decided that she would want to die based on casual statements she allegedly made to her husband and his family. Sadly then, it would seem the law requires more 'proof' to file a joint tax return, or to refinance a parcel of jointly held property than it does to determine to slowly starve to death a disabled partner.
Why is there not more feminist and disabled rights activists' outrage about this case and about whose death such a legal decision might justify next?
While ethicists, religious scholars, and politicians focus on the theoretical aspects of this case, it is time to get real. An innocent and ailing woman's feeding tube was inhumanely removed three times and replaced twice while an unknowable, impenetrable debate of the his-word-versus-their word variety raged on. Estranged husband Michael said Terri would have wanted the feeding tube removed; her family says she would not. And while it is not the business of the court to divine a husband's motives or the implications of a family's spiritual beliefs, courts often rely on the substituted judgment of the spouse to aid in making difficult medical decisions.
This of course is not a bad place to begin looking for answers, but it should not be definitive when based on hearsay. Instead it seems these grueling end-of-life decisions should require clear facts and a presumption of life versus death a benefit enjoyed even by those on death row.
There is no paperwork supporting Terri's decision or viewpoints. There is no video or audio tape of the purported discussion. There was conflicting evidence proffered by other family members willing to assume financial responsibility for Terri's illness. Husband Michael profited from a lawsuit and now has two children with a woman he considers his fiancé. This by no means makes Michael a horrible person nor does it invalidate his martial rights but it also does not change the fact that there is no compelling evidence suggesting that Terry wanted to die.
Substituted judgment is hard to apply in the Schiavo case for other reasons, including commonly held beliefs about the definition of life support. Prior to the publicity avalanche surrounding this case, it is unlikely the specific fact pattern was discussed in many homes, including the Schiavo household. Discussions of "death with dignity" or "the right to die" usually involve machine assisted survival or a fatal illness. Schiavo was not suffering from an illness or condition that threatened her life and a feeding tube is not a machine. In fact, a feeding tube is assisting the Pope at this very moment. Should we deny him sustenance too?
Explicit in the Schiavo case is that a spouse always knows best; implicit in the outcome is that disabled individuals achieve more dignity through slow, public death than private survival. Neither of these statements is true, and the precedent established by the flimsy facts could be used against others similarly situated with a wide range of personal views about end-of-life determinations.
If the battle was about dignity, the only certainty is that Terri died with very little as the media looped endless images of her struggle. This weekend, may Terri, her parents, and her husband experience peace as an agonizing human drama concludes. But may we commit to honoring Terri's life both as individuals and as a culture.
May we begin a dialogue that requires more compelling evidence of a person's wishes before we decide to end their lives, and may all adults not just those over that age of 65 take the time to make our wishes regarding complicated end-of-life decisions very clearly known in writing and before multiple witnesses.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor Lia Macko has served as a senior and executive cable news producer and is the co-author of a book about Gen-X women and power titled Mid-Life Crisis at 30: How the Stakes Have Changed for a Generation and What to do About It. She writes frequently about womens' issues and received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
03/21/05: Castrators, climbers, and divas
02/15/05: Dangerous beauty
© 2005, Lia Macko
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