Of human bondage March 21, 2005 ~ 10:38 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closed
Today I start giving you The Gates. Just because.
I’m more than just a little pissed off at Dubya and Congress today. Why they felt the need to inject themselves into the Terri Schiavo case is beyond me. It was a family matter that was ruled on by a court, there was no need for them to pass a bill allowing another court to intervene. I think the Bush family (ie, Jeb and Dubya) are viewing themselves as Terri’s saviours when in fact no one asked them to be. The life of one person is not the concern of the government. I don’t see them rushing out to do anyone else any favors, they just want to play the martyr. And what the hell, baseball steroids and this woman have taken hold of a government who can’t be bothered to find Osama, or deal with the human rights violations that occurred in various Iraqi prisons? I know, I’m a heartless bitch, right? Read on, it gets better.
I know the arguments, people. I know that people say you can see life in her eyes. Yes, she is alive. But she is not the Terri Schiavo she was. And she wouldn’t be alive but for that feeding tube. What kind of quality of life is that? And I know people who say, “Well, her husband could divorce her”. But then those same people would crucify him for that, crying out “Why did he leave her?”. Her husband loves her. He wants her to have some dignity instead of living out her days as a vegetable. I think he has the right to decide for her. At some point in all our lives, it becomes a fact that our parents and families don’t know us as well as our spouse or significant other. We cease to tell our families everything - we save that for our best friend, our partner. It might be painful to the parents, but it’s a fact of life. He knows her better than you do. And do you think that your daughter wants to spend years of her life sustained by a feeding tube, being cared for by others, unable to do the simplest things for herself? I don’t know of an independent woman who would. She isn’t coming out of this vegetative state, and she would have died but for those machines years ago. Isn’t the quality of her life important here? Because from what I’m seeing, she has none.
Don’t give me that “She’s alive, that’s the important part” spiel, I won’t go for it. I’ve told everyone I know, repeatedly, that if for some reason I am ever in a situation like that, I want to die. Pull the plug, because the Julie you know isn’t there anymore. And now all of you know that, so if you ever see Congress or the President making a move to “save me” in years to come, you know what I want. I don’t want some yahoos in office deciding my life for me when they don’t even know me. Would you?
