Husband and Guardian?
…the Rev. Thaddeus Malanowski (search) held Terri’s right hand as he and hospice priest Rev. Joseph Braun placed the droplet on her tongue. Malanowski also anointed her with holy oil, offered a blessing and absolved her of sin. “She received the blood of Christ,” said Malanowski, adding he could not give her a fleck of communion bread because her tongue was too dry. By previous court order, Terri Schiavo was allowed to receive communion once more with the consent of her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, who has fought her parents for years about whether the woman would want to live or die. Terri received both sacraments on March 18, just before the tube was pulled.
Many, many thing bother me about this article, but none more than the statement that Michael Schiavo is Terri’s “husband and guardian”.
MICHAEL SCHIAVO IS NEITHER HUSBAND NOR GUARDIAN, HE IS A GUTLESS COWARD.
I had to get that off my chest.
How could anyone in their right mind think that starving someone to death is a good idea?
I have the same take as you Matt. This is not about the right to die or the right to life. It’s about a selfish husband who is willing to put someone to death to somehow feel psychologically less burdened. All he has to do is assign guardianship to her parents and walk away. But, no, he’d rather kill his wife.
It’s eerily similar to the abortion debate in this country. Killing babies for convenience sake instead of putting them up for adoption.
Needless to say, i have a lot vested in this case. Despite your ALL CAPS, i think you still miss how big of an idiot this guy is…again, just my opinion.
My thoughts:
http://www.toddhiestand.com/index.php?p=187
An article i read today that laid out the facts pretty well:
http://www.dailyherald.com/opinion/goudie.asp?id=25003
Todd, airing all my thoughts and expressing how big of a non-man this guy is would be entirely inappropriate (and perhaps stone-throwing) and this blog would not be an appropriate venue for it.
I can’t begin to express my anger and confusion over the whole thing.
Thanks for commenting on this.
Matt,
Not that I’m willing to actually defend Michael in this case or anything, but from a legal standpoint, he is Terri’s husband and guardian.
Then again, didn’t Christ have something to say about the hyper-legalism our society finds itself in love with today?
I’m not going to defend him either… he’s behaved pretty baddley…
But if she’s never going to recover…
Well, I wouldn’t want to live like that. I don’t know many people who would.
Also… you may not think he’s a good husband… but they are married, just as Ben pointed out that he is her guardian.
Just like bad parents are still parents.
Concerning the probability of recovery, this is somewhat questionable, considering the disputed nature of the diagnosis (there have been numerous nuerologists questioning Terri’s PVS, the courts have listened to a grand total of one), the lack of an MRI, and the lack of efforts to rehabilitate Terri mentally. I’m willing to admit that Terri may be in a PVS, but as stupid as it sounds to contend that a case that has been going for 15 years needs more information, that’s my stance.
Even if Terri is PVS, and it was her wish to not be kept alive by “machine” (supposedly what she said, making one question whether a feeding tube is a machine), then the best manner to let her go is obviously not starvation. Even animals get treated better by law. I would think a morphine OD would be the best way to do it, even if you think she feels no pain (again, very questionable).
Clarification: there have been numerous nuerologists questioning Terri’s PVS, the courts have listened to a grand total of one
Should Read: there have been numerous nuerologists questioning Terri’s PVS, the courts have listened to a grand total of one nuerologist who diagnosed Terri as PVS (said nuerologist is also a leading member of a antional right to die group)
no… when it’s time to let someone die I don’t think starvation is a good way to do it. one of many reasons I believe in right to die… a euthenasia law would have allowed her to die in a quicker more dignified manner than slow starvation.
Now… I’m curious about your sources Ben. (this is the part of me that likes debate… I’m not trying to say anything bad about you). I have not seen any evidence reported, that I consider reliable, that she;s not PVS. The best evidence is that she responds to a few stimuli and moves a bit. The doctors and courts who said she’s PVS have seen the same footage and said that sometimes it happens that way (basically saying that not all PVS = coma). So… what is the evidece that says she’s not PVS?
P.S. I dont’ pray often… but I did say one for her. If she got better I would be quite happy, but even if she lived for 100 years I don’t believe she would. And I surely don’t believe that when faced with that choice someone should have to deal with thousands of protesters, who have behaved worse than anyone else involved.
so, this might get me in big trouble, but my parents and i were talking about it on easter weekend. they both have living wills that state explicitly to the other what they want done in the case they are incapacitated and no longer able to speak on their own behalf or make autonomous decisions regarding their life and death.
i personally think that from a legal standpoint, it would be beneficial for people, when they turn eighteen, to write some sort of document regarding their GENERAL wishes in this sort of situation.
i only think this because of the debate between terri’s husband and parents. if you had a document when you were no longer under your parents authority (a legal adult) and most likely not under a husband’s authority (hopefully not a lot of people marry on their 18th birthday), you could make your own, hopefully autonomous decision.
then again, perhaps you could just state that you want your parents to have the right to decide in the event of such a tragedy.
it seems obvious that something needs to be done…
by the way, i hope this does not make any of you think that i am okay with what is happening to this woman or how MANY people in the situation are reacting.