TERRY SCHIAVO
HORTICULTURE, MEDICINE, & RATIONALIZATION
February 23, 2005 - 00:02 [z-05:00]
We're not going to talk about morals. We're not going to talk about ethics. We're not going to argue about whether or not she "understands" stuff. We're not even going to talk about the miracle of the brain and how, after years of vegetation, some people get some intellect back. We're going to talk about facts.
Terri Schiavo is brain damaged. There is no argument about that. She can breathe on her own. There is no argument about that. She requires someone to fill her up like a gas tank two to three times a day. There is no argument about that. She has to be changed, massaged, and repositioned on a regular basis, several times a day. No argument there, either. She is plainly, to anyone who looks at her, a potted plant. It is a cruel truth, but it is a necessary understanding, if we are to save her life.
Why do we need to kill a potted plant?
Consider the fern in your apartment or home: It does not communicate to you except those communications that you, yourself, imagine. Perhaps you are more sensitive to green things than the rest of us, and you "KNOW" what your plant is thinking. Then you will also know that you have to water it, feed it, nurture it, and at some point, when it dies, throw it out.
Terry Schiavo however, is a potted plant with a problem. She isn't going to quit living unless someone deliberately decides not to "water" her. To those who imagine that she is communicating with them and want her to stay alive, there is no law broken, and it is no problem for them to take care of her. The million that she won in compensation for being forced to become a potted plant will go far, if invested properly. Even if there were no money, no parents, or no brothers or sister, there still would be some sweet soul who would step in and help her, JUST BECAUSE.
But Terry Schiavo is married. And hubby doesn't want a fern. It is also fair to say that he needs to pay his lawyers who are relatives and friends of the Florida Supreme Court and are waiting for the large majority of that million dollar settlement.
Hubby has no moral or ethical reason to want to kill his potted plant other than he's tired of putting up with it. But he does have a problem : The court will not let the compensation money go until absolute custody of the potted plant is established. He didn't sign on for anything like this. Wasn't she supposed to take care of him? We're not even talking about a social pariah. She's just a potted plant.
He could divorce her. But then her parents would take custody and he'd lose the money.
He could walk away and live in sin - not even God would blame him. But then, there's the money thing again.
He could decide NOT to walk away, and live in sin - often done in earlier times with earlier potted plants. A sophisticated, almost European way of dealing with things. He'd have the money, but not for long because he'd have to spend it on the lawyers and his potted plant. Also remember that Hubby wants another fern.
This is not about the right to die. That's total, complete, and utter rubbish. She WON'T DIE, unless she isn't "watered."
Nor is this about the "dignity of death," either. You've seen a dead potted plant. Do you call that dignified?
This is about the right to kill. And it is a pivotal, ultra-liberal idea who's time has come to be shot down.
So the next time you hear somebody spewing about this case, just point out, to whomever it may be, the little fact that a potted plant has gotten more respect than Terry Schiavo.
