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March 18, 2005
Calling All Liberal Bloggers!Okay, there's a lot of animosity between liberals and conservatives in the blogosphere. But occasionally we do find common cause -- Trent Lott, for example. I think we can find common cause again. And achieve results. And maybe save a life. I think many liberals don't much care about the Terri Schiavo matter not because they don't value life, but because they value even more highly an individual's autonomy. And that's understandable. And I think further that many liberals assume that Terri Schiavo is just one of many right-to-die cases in which a person's autonomy is being challenged and thwarted by religious righties with an agenda. I think liberals are not really very well acquainted with the case; I think they are, understandably enough, simply putting in into the individual vs the state template, or the individual vs meddling religious righties template, and basing a decision on those templates. But those templates do not apply here. This is not the typical right-to-die case. Terri Schiavo is not on videotape, as Dr. Kervorkian's clients were, stating clearly her desire and intent to take her own life. She signed no Living Will specifiying that in certain dire medical circumstances she would prefer to be left to die rather than kept alive. She expressed to no one, even verbally, her general preference to die in dire medical circumstances. Well-- that last point is actually the whole subject of debate in this case. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, claims that she did in fact raise the issue at one point and state that in some situations, she'd like him to see to it she had an easy and quick death, rather than being allowed to persist in a bad state. One person claims she says this. A man who has been involved with another woman for years and has sired children by that woman. A man who was awarded $1.2 million in a malpractice case, and will no longer have to pay any expenses for Terri, other than funeral costs, once she passes. The husband is not what you normally would call a disinterested party. Not generally the sort of witness whose testimony you'd take as the gold standard. Even if you believe in the general proposition that one has a right to die, shouldn't we have minimal evidentiary safeguards as regards a person's declaration of such intent, such as signed Living Will specifying the circumstances under which he'd rather be allowed to expire? Or at least multiple witnesses to an oral declaration? Or at least one disinterested witness who will not reap potential monetary benefits upon the patient's death? This is not the typical right-to-die case. This is a case where a husband, finding his wife brain-damaged (but not brain dead!) and yet perfectly capable of living without medical assistance (except that she must be fed through a tube), has, understandably enough, found another life with another woman. And began a new family. And there's nothing really blameworthy about that; it would take a saint to remain faithful to Terri Schiavo. However, given the fact that Michael Schiavo is now clearly Terri's husband in name only, does it make sense to treat him as if he were the normal sort of husband, devoted to his wife, concerned only with her best interests and with seeing her true wishes carried out? Or does it make more sense to treat his claims with a bit more skepticism? Terri's parents have been fighting for years to take guardianship of her. They want to take care of her. They want to disburden the husband of the expense and obligation of caring for Terri. Michael, for some reason, is fighting them tooth and nail. Isn't that... rather odd? Why is he fighting so hard? Is it credible that he's just passionately committed to honoring his abandoned wife's vague wishes? Does one typically spend years in court to vindicate the vague wishes of a spouse one has abandoned? Or is it more likely he has a somewhat more tangible interest in her death? One might object, "But what reason do we have to supect his motives?" Well, apart from the obvious, classic ones -- money, new family with a new girlfriend -- we have evidence which tends to cast doubt on his concerns about his wife's welfare: Many people believe that Terri Schiavo has had “the best of care,” and that everything has been tried by way of rehabilitation. This belief is false. In fact, Terri has had no attempts at therapy or rehabilitation since 1992, and very little had been done up to that point. Terri has not even had the physical therapy most doctors would regard as normative for someone in her condition. The result is that Terri suffers from severe muscle contractures, which have caused her body to become contorted. Physical therapy could remedy this, but husband Michael has refused to provide it. I hope the Rev. Johanson and NRO (yes, conservatives and reverends are of course involved in this) will not mind the extended quotation. This is not a standard left-right issue. This is not about the substance of the right-to-die debate. This is about something less red-meat, and something less sexy, and something much less ideological. It's about process. And evidentiary standards. And basic judicial safeguards for determining a stricken patient's true desires. But it is also about preserving the life of a woman whose true wishes we simply cannot know with any real certainty. Would you feel comfortable allowing spouse who has abandoned you and begun a family with a new partner to, upon his or her say-so and his or say-so alone, determine your fate, against the wishes of your parents, and despite his or her glaring conflicts-of-interest? If you wouldn't feel comfortable with such an arrangement, please blog about this case, and let other liberals know it's reasonable, right, and, well, safe and sane to argue on behalf of perserving Terri Schiavo's life. Thusfar mostly conservatives have taken any issue in this case at all, and I think that's a shame, because I think many liberals -- feminists in particular -- would be pretty shocked if they new the real facts of the matter. Even if we have a right to die, which, for now, let's assume we do, obviously the taking of the life is a serious matter, and we should require some minimum level of evidence as regards someone's wish to be allowed to die. The hearsay testimony of a single party -- and not a disinterested one -- should never be enough. You need a written contract for any lease of land that lasts more than one year; it seems very odd to me indeed that the taking of a human life requires only one hearsay statement from one interested party. We all may arguably have a right to die as we wish. But certainly a husband doesn't have the right to so easily dispose of an inconvenient and no longer sexually useful wife. Nixon Goes to China Update: The self-described ardent liberal who inspired me to stop bashing liberals about this and actually try to reach out to them wrote her own post on the matter here. Bonus Points! Only Republicans Need Be Embarassed By This! No Democratic votes need to be moved on this. In the Florida Senate, nine *Republicans* voted against a bill that would preserve Terri's life (I assume by raising the evidentiary threshhold to determine if somone truly wishes to be painfully starved to death for two weeks, but I'm not sure about that). Most likely they're moderates, in moderate districts, who fear being associated with the religious right on this matter. If enough liberals of good will made it clear that they also don't consider Michael Schiavo's testimony to enough to starve a woman to death, those Republicans could be whipsawed into changing their votes. And of course they would be exposed as craven and cynical bastards for doing so. So, you know-- it's win-win! (Though, admittedly, those of us on the right wouldn't mind seeing them embarassed, either.) | Recent Comments
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