Terri Schiavo - Dallas Morning News Editorial

Life and Death With Dignity: Intervention makes tragic situation more so
10:55 PM CST on Monday, March 21, 2005
Now and again, someone's life imitates death.
Such is the tragic case of Terri Schiavo, who has lived the past 15 years in a "persistent vegetative state" attached to a life-sustaining feeding tube.
It's a pitiful existence that has left the nation in tears. Few among us are so presumptuous as to suggest to others when a life has ceased to be worth living. That decision is best the result of soulful family agreement in accordance with the previously expressed wishes of the incapacitated person.
But such agreement wasn't reached in this case, and Congress and President Bush have stepped into this most personal of issues in a troubling way. Perhaps there is no completely right answer, but congressional and presidential intervention is certainly the wrong one.
Like the president and Congress, we share the heartbreaking reaction to this case that makes intervention seem appealing. The Schiavo family has begged to become Terri's guardian, but her husband has not only refused but also succeeded in having her feeding tube removed, a seemingly cold move. As most parents would, Terri Schiavo's mom and dad hold out hope, no matter how unrealistic, for their daughter's recovery.
It's doubtful, however, that federal intervention has done more than complicate a family tragedy. In Florida, numerous judges in various courts have issued rulings upholding Michael Schiavo's decision. Across the country, state laws generally support the authority of a spouse to make such crucial decisions for a partner.
Moreover, this is a worrisome precedent for congressional intervention into cases in which families and state courts should have the final word. Regrettably, this situation has turned into a debate over which family member has most standing or possesses the purest motive.
The take-away from this case should concern all families. In the absence of previously expressed and documented desires of the person incapacitated, they too could face such a dilemma. A durable power of attorney, which appoints someone to handle financial affairs or medical affairs if a person is incapacitated, or a "directive to physicians," otherwise known as a living will, to let doctors know that the incapacitated person doesn't want extraordinary measures taken to prolong life, are steps every family should take.
Death, like life, should be with dignity.
What is a living will?
Also known as a directive to physicians, it "allows you to declare, in the event your death is deemed imminent by a physician due to disease, illness, or accident, that you do not wish to have your life prolonged by artificial means," according to the State Bar of Texas.
The bar has a living-will form and more information on its Web site, www.texasbar.com.
Give copies to your doctor, your family and your health care agent. You can change or revoke it at any time.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/032205dnedischiavo.9f05d.html
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Letters for Tuesday
10:43 PM CST on Monday, March 21, 2005
THE TERRI SCHIAVO CASE

Prepare your living will
The one positive I see from the Terri Schiavo case is that it should open people's eyes to the importance of having a living will and durable power of attorney for health care. Ask your doctor about getting these forms.
Supporters pray at a vigil for Terri Schiavo, whose feeding tube was removed Friday.
Without them, you may have the courts and politicians making decisions for you.
Mary Beth Dimijian, Dallas

We need a merciful option
How much sense does it make to let an innocent person starve to death when prisoners are treated more mercifully with lethal injections?
I beg society to consider how we allow our loved ones to die. We treat animals more mercifully. I would not want to be left in Terri Schiavo's condition, but I also wouldn't want to be left to starve to death.
Surely we can consider a more merciful option.
Susan Romero McMenamy, Plano

Congress does more harm
As a physician who helps patients and their loved ones deal with end-of-life decision-making, Congress' actions in the Terry Schiavo case are shortsighted and dangerous.
Law and legal precedents have given us guidelines for those difficult cases when a patient has left no written instructions. In Texas, one such statute, based on broad-based input and experience, says that for a married patient, decision-making falls to his or her spouse.
To focus this kind of attention and develop policy based on a single case is likely to do more harm than good.
Lisa Clark, Dallas

Starving is not a painless death
Re: "Ethics, politics a delicate mix," Saturday news story.
Your article by Robert Dodge makes it seem like death by starvation and dehydration will be painless for Terri Schiavo, almost a non-event.
You disregard the doctors who claim she can be rehabilitated. You disregard the doctors who have determined she is not in a vegetative state. What happened to the whole truth? Starvation and dehydration will not be painless; it will be barbaric.
If you want the Catholic position, quote the Catechism and Pope John Paul II, not some fool in Boston. Duplicity ruins your credibility.
Timothy Norman, Irving

As a Republican, I'm embarrassed
For a party so concerned about judicial activism to use the Terri Schiavo case to engage in blatant congressional activism perplexes me, as a regular Republican voter and contributor.
Does our leadership really support rule of law and states' rights, which I remember as part of the Republican Party's core values? I am embarrassed.
Jim Gould, Heath

DeLay practices 'thug' politics
I cannot believe that U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay believes that Terry Schiavo's husband has not guarded her rights. He has turned down more than a million dollars to regulate her care to others.
All I can see is that he is carrying out her wishes against ardent public opposition. Mr. DeLay is practicing thug politics; Mr. Schiavo truly loves his mate. I know which one is more moral.
Joel Rutledge, Carrollton

How we treat vulnerable
Terri Schiavo breathes on her own. She may have suffered brain damage, but she is not brain dead.
I find it ironic that if you starve your children in Texas, CPS will take them away. If you starve your animals, the city will take them away. If we remove Terri's feeding tube, we are in effect starving her.
What kind of country treats its most vulnerable citizens this way? I worry about everyone young and old who cannot feed themselves.
Carol Stroud, Carrollton