The Schiavo Case

I have been avoiding this topic for a while but let me share my opinion. I'm sure it won't be popular.

Terri Schiavo isn't a vegetable, she has some mental capacity but no ability to communicate or feed herself. She might be able to do so with physical therapy. At best Terri has full control of her mental faculties but is trapped within her own body. At worst she has no conscious mind and is acting on pure instinct. While lots of people are saying "she might get better", I sincerely doubt it. After 15 years, she has about as much chance of meaningful recovery as winning the lottery.

Michael Schiavo's life sucks. Maybe he deserves it. His wife is not and will never be the woman he married. He has realized this and moved on, which is completely understandable to me. He's living with his fiancee and their two kids. They intend to get married after Terri passes. He has not forsaken Terry through all this however and the two of them take care of her together. Her parents are claiming that this constitutes adultery and want his legal rights stripped away. They are technically right, but frankly Terri is not capable of actually having any sort of meaningful relationship with him. Blah blah sickness and health, but honestly Shiavo is attacked from all sides. I can't blame him for looking to someone for the support Terri cannot give him.

And support is what he needs, he is frequently and consistently smeared by thousands of people who have never met him. I don't know the man either, but I doubt the picture I get in the press is accurate. They have made him out to be some sort of mustache-twirling violent offender who doesn't even have the decency to tie his wife to the railroad tracks. I doubt any of his critics have ever been in his situation. I also doubt he is as bad as they say.

People are claiming that Terri's condition is the result of a head injury he gave her. Possible, but I doubt it. More likely any head injury is the result of a fall at the initial onset of her heart problem. People lose consciousness suddenly all the time, my mom did it at church last year.

People are also claiming that he has raided her funds for his own personal uses. Out of millions of dollars he has received under 11 thousand over the 15 year period since Terri's "attack". That isn't much. It might reimburse him for his time caring for her. His biggest expenses are legal bills caused by the constant litigation battle.

He's claiming that Terri would have wanted the feeding tube removed. I believe him. The parents' counter-argument is "but she's Catholic!" Such crap. American Catholics are the poster children for syncratism. If she was so ardently Catholic, why didn't she marry one according to church doctrine? I think it is entirely possible she wouldn't want to live in that condition. Hell, I'm a pretty faithful evangelical and I'd be pretty torn too. Plus I know the level of honesty and openness I share with my fiancee. She knows a lot of things I would never tell my parents, especially if I thought they wouldn't approve.

Then we have the Florida government. The Schindlers are filing motion after motion, not because they think the will win a case, but so that they can keep getting stay after stay from the judiciary. The governor is involved, the legislature has passed laws overriding Michaels rights as guardian. The legal precedents for big government meddling that are being created make me shudder.

Honestly I think Michael should just divorce Terri and give up legal and financial guardianship. If I were him I would have by now. Why hasn't he? He claims it is because they will not honor her wishes and he loves his wife and wants to see those wishes honored. I can believe that. Frankly, when I look at "Terri's supporters" (actually the Schindlers' supporters), it is never about what Terri wants. It is about abstract concepts like the sanctity of life/euthanasia or what they think Terri should have. But no one ever considers Terri's wishes. At least not for more than a moment. Michael Shiavo, right or wrong, is the only one I believe has a credible claim to them in this situation.