A Tale of Two Books

Dueling books have been released from the principal parties in the sad case of Terri Schiavo. Michael Schiavo has released Terri: The Truth, and the Schindler family has released A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo -- A Lesson for Us All. The early returns from the press surrounding the releases confirm the eminent unlikability of Michael Schiavo. What is his hope for his book? That the book will motivate people to get living wills and oppose politicians who try to intervene in the personal affairs of others. To this end he has started a political-action committee — TerriPAC — to counter government interference in family matters. As if anyone cares, he plans to announce his endorsement for Florida governor through TerriPAC within weeks. Further, the book reveals that Michael was talked out of a last minute decision to let Terri's feeding tube remain by his evil puppet master, attorney George Felos. "He reminded me that we had to realize that it wasn't just about Terri anymore. It was about the rest of the people who didn't want the government telling us how we could die and when we were allowed to decide that we didn't want further medical treatment. And it was about who has the right to make decisions between a husband and wife.'' That is the sort of drivel that passes for great moral thinking in our society. And the media were there in the trenches with this foul "dynamic duo" then and now. They concur that the great lesson of all of this really boils down to "living wills."
As for the Schindlers, now that Terri is dead they were granted a congenial interview on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. What is their hope following Terri's death? In their book the Schindlers talk about their fight against medical neglect of those especially vulnerable . "We've become comfortable in our society to kill someone simply because they have a brain injury," Bobby Schindler said. "That's what we're trying to change." They have established the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation "dedicated to ensuring the rights of disabled, elderly and vulnerable citizens against care rationing, euthanasia and medical killing."
Okay. You can tell where I stand on this one. I'll simply say this: I agree with the letter of what Michael Schiavo says he hopes for, but the spirit in which he carried it out was, and is, chilling. The very issue in this case was that Terri's "wishes" were unknown, only "remembered" years later after Michael met a fanatical "right to die" attorney who thinks it is wonderful to starve to death. No. In principle, we don't want the government "interfering in family matters" (though millions of us each year strangely let the government decide who gets the stuff and the kids in divorce). But we do want the government to protect innocents from those who would take advantage of them, even within families. That's why we have laws against things like incest, spousal abuse, and even (ahem) uxoricide.
Likewise, we as a society need to wake up regarding end of life issues. Too many people in the youth and vigor of their teens, 20's, and 30's seem to think that older and disabled folks are just sitting around wishing that death (preferably by starvation) would just hurry up and claim them. That's not the way it is. And even the almighty living will written up at age 25 cannot possibly reflect one's thinking at age 75. Nor can it possibly cover every contingency one might face. So the lesson is bigger than simply "living wills." (Sorry, Michael. Sorry, media.) The lesson is, in fact, the one the Schindlers would have us to learn. May we learn it.

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