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I Wouldn’t Want To Live Like That

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

I respect the right of people to indicate in advance what, if any, medical treatment they want to receive in the event that they become incapacitated to the point that they cannot express their will themselves.  Most of us would not want to be kept alive for an extended period of time by being attached to respirators and dialysis machines if we could not relate in a meaningful way with our surroundings and if we were not making progress toward recovery.  However, even given that position, I have several problems with the Terri Schiavo case.

First, Terri never made such an advance directive.  Her husband himself, at various times, has admitted that he did not know what she would have wanted.  For example:

"Larry King: Do you understand how they (Terri's family) feel?"

M. SCHIAVO: Yes, I do. But this is not about them, it's about Terri. And I've also said that in court. We didn't know what Terri wanted, but this is what we want..." Schiavogate---The Big Cover-up

With that being the case, the court clearly has made its decision to end Terri’s life without having any clear indication from her that this is what she would have wanted.  While Michael Schiavo’s attorney says he wants the courts to stay out of this and respect his client’s privacy, that is clearly the opposite of what he wants.  What he really wants is for the court to inject itself into this matter and starve Terri to death without any clear advance directive to that effect on her part.  One would think that a court would require more evidence of a person’s intent before imposing an order to remove a feeding tube and effectively starve that person to death.

Second, there is a big difference between removing a feeding tube, which is a form of medical treatment (albeit not very high tech or invasive) and putting food or water into a person’s mouth.  If Terri is incapable of swallowing or ingesting food through the mouth, then she would starve to death without the feeding tube, but the court is not leaving this matter to chance; it is forbidding anyone from even trying to feed her through her mouth.  The court has forbidden Terri’s family even to put ice chips into her mouth.  Her family is carefully inspected by guards to prevent them from smuggling in any form of nourishment to attempt to feed Terri even without a feeding tube.  If Terri’s mother wants to put an ice chip into Terri’s mouth, and Terri wants to swallow the melting water, how can a court forbid that?  Clearly, the court has gone much further than ordering the removal of artificial forms of life support.  It has ordered that Terri affirmatively be starved to death.  A court should not have that power.

Many people are saying that Terri is just one person, that she should be allowed to die in peace, and that resources are being wasted on her that should be used to help other people who have more to offer society.  However, Terri’s case is very important, because she is a living human being, and the court has ordered her to be starved to death.  Even if a person has given an advance directive that he does not want to be kept alive by any artificial means including a feeding tube, that does not mean a court should have the power to prevent someone from feeding that person in the natural way, through the mouth.  A person should always have the opportunity to choose whether to swallow food or water, no matter what advance directive he or she may have given. 

Polls show that most Americans agree with the court and think Terri should be starved to death.  Have we so devalued life in our culture that we now have reached the point at which Americans support euthanasia – an affirmative killing of disabled people through court-ordered starvation?  I certainly hope not, because I wouldn’t want to live in a country like that. 

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