Jackson, CBC, Not Dead Yet: Schiavo is a civil rights issue

[BurtWorm]

I disagree with them, but I think this needs to be made clear. I don't think Jackson and the CBC are in the pocket of a religious constituency. This is not so much about right to life as about the civil right to be left alive.

Jesse Jackson in particular is using the language of the disability rights group Not Dead Yet, which opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide (which they call something like physician instigated homicide) on the principle that people with severe disabilities ought to have the right, as non-disabled Americans ostensibly have, to not be killed because they don't meet the right standard. NDY argues that PAS is akin to "thinning the herd." They argue that disability ought not to be an automatic criterion for being expendable. They do have a point.

Where I think they're wrong is on the question of whether someone like Terri Schiavo, a large portion of whose brain is literally liquid, is "disabled" or something else. I think she's something else.

[mondo joe]

1. They're also wrong on assisted suicide.

It's incredibly patronizing to treat the disabled as if they can't make their own decisions.

Even if it's other disabled people saying it.

[iamjoy]

2. I Think The Concern Is

that if we okay physician assisted suicide, that one day disabled people may be encouraged to pursue this option.

That what we now say is a CHOICE of how you wish to live could one day be based on whether or not you have the money to pay for your care.

[mondo joe]

4. I understand but it's no excuse to deny people self determination

and privacy.

Anyone opposed to my freedom to decide these things for myself is my enemy.

[sandnsea]

5. We have it in Oregon

It just does not work that way. We've had 200 cases in 8 years. Nobody is being forced into suicide at all. And I wasn't a big fan of the legislation either.

Far as I'm concerned, this woman has found a great vehicle to lobby for the independent living industry. I hate to be cynical, but it's such complete bullshit that it's the only conclusion I can come to.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. I Think The Concern Is If They Start Pulling The Plug In Contested Cases

It Will Be Poor Black Folks Who Will Be Having Their Plugs Pulled....

[GreenPoet64]

3. But her decision was made prior to her "disability" . . .

She decided while in sound mind that she did not want to be kept alive if in this condition. There were several witnesses to this fact--not just her husband.

To deny her of this decision that she made while still in sound mind IS to deny her of her civil rights.

[TexasSissy]

6. Exactly. The point is it's HER decision. The Courts found that she

made that decision. The government is trying to take the decision AWAY from her.

It's NOT that others are saying they WANT her to die. It's that they want her wishes about her right to die to be protected. They would say the same if she had decided she wanted to be left hooked to a feeding tube.

Another poster was right on when s/he said it's all about the government wanting the right to decide...yay or nay. Not the individual.

[Imajika]

8. That really is the point...

"She decided while in sound mind that she did not want to be kept alive if in this condition. There were several witnesses to this fact--not just her husband."

Your exactly right.

"To deny her of this decision that she made while still in sound mind IS to deny her of her civil rights."

Yup, totally correct again in my view.

Honestly, I am suspicious of the husband for reasons I can't quite put my finger on - but I've no proof of any wrongdoing on his behalf, and don't know near as much about the case as the courts and those directly involved.

My feelings just don't matter for much here. Your points are dead on.

Congress should have stayed out of it. The Florida state courts appear to have acted properly. The rightwing is just appeasing their anti-abortion/right to life constituency. It strikes me that the American public appear to have figured it out and are not buying the Delay/Frist/Bush dog and pony show.

Imajika

[technophobe]

9. Terri Schiavo IS "something else"

She is currently in a terminal, persistent vegitative state. The only thing keeping her alive is the surgical implantation of a feeding tube that passes through the abdominal wall into the jejunum of the small intestine. No one is actively promoting her euthanasia; instead, her husband is advocating that this tube be withdrawn and that nature be allowed to take its course. Per her stated wishes at one point in the past.

Physiologically, her decline will be painless as her body first progresses to ketosis and then renal failure in response to attendant dehydration. Death will occur during an uremic coma. Terri Schiavo will quietly slip away and be free, as oblivious to her death as she is to her own life.

The only real tragedy is that her passing is being played out in an acrimonious public forum with interference from those who are so jaded that they see only political gain from their meddling. I can understand and excuse her family, but there is no excuse for the actions of Congress.

I guess nothing is sacred to the political whores anymore.