A helpless woman lay starving on a bed in Florida, upon the court-supported request of her adulterous husband. There is some evidence that she remains sentient, yet the putative champions of helpless women maintained their silence. As President Bush this morning signed a bill giving Terri Schiavo’s parents the ability to resume feeding her, commentators normally unconcerned by questions of constitutional authority voiced fears of federal overreach.
Thus have people who fashion themselves protectors of the downtrodden subjugated all stated principles to the overriding one, which is that the right to terminate inconvenient life must be defended at all costs, even if it be the slow starvation of an innocent woman. Plenty of people have and will continue to dissect this case, which certainly isn’t over. I encourage you to inform yourself and take action, because in reading these words you can no longer remain in the safe camp of the unknowing.
I’ve encountered experts before who are willing to let someone die by means of starvation and dehydration. I wonder how many of them have ever really been hungry, or thirsty. I wonder how many of those who acted to delay the House vote have missed a meal recently. As they cracked open bottles of spring water and anxiously scanned the national news, did they tell themselves that Terri Schiavo wouldn’t feel anything as her throat dried out? Did they bother to find out for sure?
The husband, thwarted, pouted that “Congress has more important things to discuss.”
Thankfully, on this day at least, they did not.
