Ah poor Terri, we hardly knew ye

It has only been 3 weeks since our lives have been consumed with the condition of this young woman and the legal and moral issues revolving around her. The question of Authority has been the prominent theme throughout. Should her husband or her parents be able to decide her fate? Are the courts, the legislature, the governor, or the president able to make the decision. The president can take us to war and the governor can pardon the convicted murderer but neither can save a helpless lady from certain death. The congress of the most powerful nation in the world took its best shot and seemed helpless to accomplish what even a small child should be able to do – hand a cup of water to a thirsty soul. They made their effort, took a beating and scampered back to relative safety.

Authority has been questioned and the separation of powers in the U.S. constitution has been in focus while ordinary citizens debated what the outcome should and would be. The authority question was answered in the end. The courts had the authority to make the decision and they made it stand up. The court trumped the executive and legislative branches by issuing the injunction which forbade the removal of Terri from the hospice which prevented the tube from being reinserted. It went to the Supreme court who in the end confirmed the lower courts by refusing to hear this case.

The decision to pull the plug rested in an individual whose motives in the case were easy to question and difficult to understand. Michael Schiavo said that he was following Terri’s wishes. Why was Michael questioned? Well, it had been 15 years since Terri’s condition began. Michael had moved on with his life. He had a common law wife and two children. He hadn’t said anything about Terri’s wish to die for the first seven years. Now he said this was Terri’s desire and the Schindlers were just standing in Terri’s way. The court could find no reason not to believe Michael and gave him the authority to decide.

Now we come to the issue within the authority theme - the right to live or die. For years America has been torn by the right to live issue. Mothers have been given the authority to decide whether the baby they carry in their womb will see the light of day. Millions of mothers have chosen a convenient route and allowed the life of their baby to be taken. Many of those mothers have regretted that decision.

The Schiavo case now moves us to a new arena of life and death. The decision to terminate the life of another who is not in your womb. Quality of life now becomes the issue. Is the quality of life in that person worth allowing? Should that life be terminated by the parent or child or spouse because we don’t believe that the quality of that life is worth preserving that life. Michael Schiavo insists that Terri did not want to live in the condition she was in. The final question is should Terri have the final say? Should any individual have the right to decide when to live and when to die? Should all laws restricting suicide be stricken from the books?

A judge gave the authority to decide to Michael and he decided death. Three thousand years ago a judge rendered another decision involving life and death. Two mothers came to Solomon and both claimed to be the mother of the one baby. Solomon said to bring him a sword and cut the baby in half and give half to each mother. One of the women was satisfied with this verdict. The other woman pleaded with Solomon to give the baby whole to the other woman. Solomon wisely understood that the woman who respected the life of the child was the true mother.

Oh that we would have judges today who are as wise as Solomon. Oh that those who are willing to love and care for others would be given the responsibility to make the decision for the weak and infirm. Terri is now gone but the question of life and death remains.