What Have We Done?????

Think about this...., Terri Schindler Schiavo either has been intentionally executed or is intentionally being executed and  not only has she committed no crime, she has done nothing wrong!  What have we done?  What has happened to us?

As I pen these words, I do not know if Terri Schindler Schiavo is alive or dead.  I have been hypnotized by the broadcast media's account of her ordeal for the last 11 days.  I listened almost every waking hour.  Today it became too much to endure.  Terri, if she is alive, did not and does not have that choice of escape and she has done nothing wrong or against the laws of the State in which she lived or this country.  

How did we allow ourselves to get to this point? We, who have: held those who caused the deaths of innocents to a standard, even higher than human law; passed the American Disability Act to protect disabled persons from those who would intentionally or unintentionally cause them harm; put people in jail for lengthy jail terms for harming dumb animals; held, in the past but not any more, life to be sacred and protected and taken only for just cause, now stand idly by while our leaders and officials, either by omission or commission, slowly murder a defenseless brain damaged human being  and do so under the color of law.   

As I understand it, the following is accepted and has been reported  to be true:

Terri Schindler Schiavo  became severely brain damaged approximately 15 years ago;  her husband Michael did not, in the beginning, state that Terri specified that she did not wish to live by mechanical means (by means of life support systems);  there is no known record of Terri ever specifying that; there is only hearsay testimony of Terri not wishing to live dependent on life support systems. This point is in great contention. Terri Schiavo's blood relatives say that Terri never said what Michael Schiavo (and other members of HIS family) says that she said and this type of evidence is defined as hearsay and ordinarily is not heard or entered into legal proceedings. 

It is also commonly known to be true that after some years subsequent to the event that caused Terri Schiavo's brain injury, Michael Schiavo reversed his initial position and has been seeking to end Terri Schindler Schiavo's life by seeking to permission a court of competent jurisdiction to remove the life support necessary to sustain Terri Schiavo's life.  Michael Schiavo is known to be involved in a common law marriage to a person other than Terri Schiavo and has fathered two children by a woman other than Terri Schiavo. 

How can a person be married to one person and openly acknowledge being  involved in a common law marriage to another person, be the father of two children by that common law marriage and still be specified the guardian of a brain damaged person, and be authorized by the court to make life and death decisions for that disabled person.  If one is involved in a marriage and is also known to be involved in a common law marriage to another, is that not bigamy?

But more importantly, how have we let this happen?

IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT TERRI SCHIAVO ONLY NEEDS A FEEDING TUBE FOR HER TO CONTINUE TO LIVE.  SHE DOES NOT, REPEAT NOT, REQUIRE A VENTILATOR OR ANY ARTIFICIAL BREATHING DEVICE TO CONTINUE TO LIVE.   IT IS ALSO VITALLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THERE IS SOME CONSIDERABLE DEBATE BY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AS TO TERRY SCHIAVO'S CONDITION BEING RIGHTFULLY DESCRIBED AS HER BEING IN A "PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE.

This entire matter reminds me of Cinderella's step-sisters trying to force their feet in the glass slipper presented by the Prince.  It seems the members of the judiciary have approached the matter involving Terri Shindler Schiavo and have said, "our mind is made up, do not confuse us with the facts".  And the people have stood silently by as a life is being snuffed out or has been snuffed out. 

How can the President of this great country possess the power to stop the execution of convicted criminals (who have committed heinous crimes)  and be powerless to stop the willful homicide of one of America's citizen's who has committed no crime? How can he pardon criminals and let them go free to walk among and enjoy the blessings of this land and he not be able to do the same for a law abiding citizen? 

How can the Governor of one of the Sovereign States of the world's only super power be effectively neutered by another branch that is supposed to be separate but only equal, not superior? How have we evolved into our present state? By what means shall we extricate ourselves from the present moral morass in which we find ourselves?

How have we come to the point where we involve ourselves in either speaking or accepting the doublespeak that George Orwell mentioned and say, in effect, "Oh well, it really is for the best when considering all the factors!" How can we tolerate Michael Schiavo's attorney and his comments about how and what Terri is feeling.   I find it sickening to listen to his comments about how easy this is for Terry Schiavo.  Has he given any evidence that he cares for Terri Schiavo?  He is actively advocating and aggressively seeking her homicide by means of starvation of both food and water. What has happened to the American sense of human dignity???

You and I can say we are not involved in a murder approved and sanctioned by our society of a fellow citizen, but that simply is not true. Can we continue to pursue our present course without peril?  Have you considered the ramifications of the decisions upheld in the Terri Shindler Schiavo matter.  Although today you may not think your are involved in the Terri Shindler Schiavo matter, one day you may find that the decisions affecting Terri Shindler Schiavo affect you and you have no choice, just as Terri Shindler Schiavo has had no choice in the matter. We are surrendering our freedoms to a judiciary that has gone amok.  Just as Terri is being slaughtered, we are all at risk.  

Read a detailed account of what happens to a human being who is subjected to what Terri Schindler Schiavo is being subjected to.  I will be amazed if it does not make you shake your head in sadness.  Many would think a judge with the power of life and death would at least select a more humane means of execution.

This does not even take into the account of what is happening to Terri's family. Have you even tried to imagine how you would feel if the country,  and many of its institutions, that you loved and in which you placed your faith and trust was systematically going about killing a family member you loved and who had not committed a capital crime?  I submit that the entire Schindler family will be damaged beyond repair for the rest of their lives.

How do we justify what we are doing to them when just recently another woman awoke, after years, from a coma and about which doctors commented it was a miracle?  How can we sleep this night in view of what has been permitted to take place in our land?  May God have mercy on us all.