Venting

I am sad, mad and frustrated right now. I am deeply saddened by Terri Schiavo's death. I am frustrated at the fact that apparently some people's lives are worth more than others. Who decides that? Yesterday's headlines disgusted me. The top headline read "Appeals Court To Consider Schiavo Request". Directly underneath that was the headline "Pope Getting Nutrition From Feeding Tube". Am I the only one who sees irony in this? At 4 PM yesterday when the last request for Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinsertion was denied, apparently the pope was perkin' along nicely with his.

No one - not her husband, not her parents, not the masses of doctors - will ever know what she was or was not capable of. That was impossible to tell - but where there is life, there is hope. Perhaps if the opinions of her condition had been unanimous in that there was no hope of recovery, things would be different (even so, starving someone to death is not an option). However, in this case there were differing opinions - some saying she could regain some function, some saying she could not. As long as there was some doubt and differing professional opinions, she should have been given a chance, and her husband - I use the term loosely, and will not print the words that I feel truly describe him - took that away.

People talked about her "quality of life". What is that, anyway? Does a person who has all four limbs and no deficits of any kind have a better quality of life than someone who is handicapped? I believe that quality of life is relative to the person living it. A person who is fully functional mentally and physically could be miserable with their life, and yet a quadriplegic could be joyful with theirs. No one can say what quality of life is or isn't - too many variables. I hope her husband enjoys his money that wasn't spent on helping Terri. I have a feeling that what he thinks will be "freedom" from what he saw as a burden, will now become more of a burden than he ever imagined. I hope her parents find peace. I know Terri already has. Stepping down off my soapbox now.