Mar 30
Questions About Schiavo
A heart attack places you into what is described by some as a “vegetative state” while family members battle for fifteen years over whether you should be allowed to die or to continue to linger on in the hopes that a miracle will occur. It sounds like the premise of a horror story, presuming that the victim is actually aware of what is going on. But that’s the big question: is Terri Schiavo aware of what is happening around her?
As the legal battle continues about whether they should reconnect the feeding tube — and at this point, has enough damage not already beendone by the lack of nourishment that it would be more humane to let her go? — I have to wonder about these statements I keep hearing:
If she is in a non-responsive vegetative state…
If she can’t feel pain and isn’t aware of any suffering connected with the lack of starvation…
If she isn’t aware of what is happening to her and doesn’t have the cognitive ability to recognize that her wishes are finally being carried out…
How can she be “resting comfortably?” How can she be “at peace?”
Don’t comfort and peace require some level of contentment? Does someone without the ability to feel anything or think for herself have the ability to be content?
March 30th, 2005 at 1:25 pm
Trying to sort through the language surrounding this case involves about as much frustration as trying to cut through the ridiculous legal thicket thrown up by her parents and their allies.
At risk of sounding thoughtless, or even cruel, I’ll say that the woman is a gorp: she knows and feels nothing. As a mushroom can feel content and restful, so does she.