Most of us, fortunately, have never been in exactly the same position as Terri Schiavo's family. But I suspect almost all of us have had to make or help make some end of life decisions on behalf of loved ones. When that time came, who did we turn to for help? Family. Friends. Doctors. Clergy. What about politicians? What? Nobody called Tom DeLay or George Bush to see what they thought?
This -- despite how the GOP is framing the issue -- is the essence of the current debate.
And though Congress is going out of its way to say that the actions it is taking now apply only to one person, that is intellectually, and perhaps legally, incoherent. By definition, a Constitutional right can not apply to a single individual. It is something we all have -- and if the politicians are intent on defining a new one, it's crucial that we think about what this actually means.
For instance, it's now irrelevent that Schiavo's family is battling over her treatment. If a person truly has the Constitutional right to forced nutrition and hydration, the wishes of the family must be beside the point. Indeed, family members -- who have all sorts of emotional and financial conflict of interests -- are the last people who (in the implied view of the GOP and/or the voters they're pandering to) can be trusted to make a decision about ending someone's life. Tom DeLay called the removal of the feeding tube murder. If that's so (and the law doesn't actually go that far, but just wait...) then no one ever has the right to remove a feeding tube, even if everyone in the family and all their doctors agree it's for the best.
Even more, the new law makes exceptions for people with living wills -- but why? If I sign a piece of paper saying I want to die tomorrow, that doesn't give you the right to shoot me in the head. Either there is a real distinction between the kind of "life" Terri Schiavo is living or the kind of life I am living, or there's not. The federal government and the religious right have now said there's not, which means that you and I no longer have the right to make any decisions about what should happen to us or our families if the worst should happen.
Oh, but I'm worrying prematurely. After all, this law only applies to Terry Schiavo... right?
