Life/Death Culture Clash

The New York Times ran an editorial on Thursday bashing anyone that supported Terri Schiavo's right to live. By juxtaposing it with Jeb Bush's response to the opinion piece, one can see just how dramatically the culture of death agenda clashes with the culture of life--those seeking to protect and nurture the dignity of human beings.

The editorial condemns those who believed that withholding minimal care, food and water, from Terri was barbaric. The Times mistakenly finds vindication in the autopsy report.

The autopsy results released yesterday should embarrass all the opportunistic politicians and agenda-driven agitators who meddled in Terri Schiavo's right-to-die case. There is no evidence that Ms. Schiavo's husband did any of the awful things attributed to him, and no hope that her greatly damaged brain would ever have recovered. The courts were right to conclude that she should be allowed to die after 15 years in what her doctors described as a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

The autopsy and a broader investigation conducted by medical examiners in Florida inevitably left some questions without definitive answers. That reflects the limitations of a pathological examination and the uncertainties of clinical medicine. But what the inquiry did reveal leaves little doubt that death was the merciful finale to this tragic case.

This editorial distorts beyond recognition the arguments and concerns of Terri's supporters. It also glosses over the fact that the cause of Terri's collapse fifteen years ago is still UNDETERMINED. Neither Michael Schiavo nor those who joined in his crusade to end Terri's life (kill her) have been shown to be right. Moreover, the Schindlers and their supporters were not shown to be wrong.

The autopsy revealed that Terri was profoundly brain-damaged. That was no surprise. The size and weight of her brain does not mean that removing nutrition and hyrdration to kill her was morally acceptable.

No one suggested that Terri could have made a full recovery. That was not going to happen. An autopsy was not needed to determine that. According to the Times, diminished brain function apparently qualifies one to be dehydrated to death. Terri fell in a category that the Times, and like-minded culture of death promoters, deems "not fit to live."

A question that was not answered definitively by the autopsy was whether or not Terri was PVS. Although her brain was in a condition "consistent" with PVS, it could not be verified and was not verified by the autopsy.

The Times is almost giddy over the findings that Terri's brain was "profoundly atrophied," claiming that Bill Frist's part in the fight to save her was shallow and cynical. These libs still don't get it.

The agenda of the self-proclaimed enlightened libs on life and death issues is based on convenience and completely arbitrary standards of quality. They believe they can decide that an individual is unfit to live. Rather than caring for the weak and the ill and the helpless, they prefer to conclude that those lives are optional and can be considered disposable, all governed by their own self-serving whims.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush sums up the culture of death's utter lack of respect for human life in his letter to the Times editorial board.

Schiavo's Life and Death
Published: June 18, 2005

To the Editor:

The New York Times's grotesque and chilling disrespect for the sanctity of life has never been more apparent than in your June 16 editorial "Autopsy on the Schiavo Tragedy."

Terri Schiavo was a deeply loved daughter, wife, sister and friend. The fact that her brain was atrophied or that she was blind or could not have been rehabilitated doesn't change that fact.

While many medical professionals said she was in a persistent vegetative state, still other highly respected neurologists said there was a chance that she was not.

In cases where patients do not have an expressed written directive regarding end-of-life decisions and where the patient's guardian has a conflict of interest, it only makes sense to err on the side of life.

Terri's life and her death remind us all that life is fragile and must be valued.

Despite claims of cynicism and being "agenda-driven," we will continue to strive to protect our most vulnerable citizens. All innocent human life is precious, and government has a duty to protect the weak, the disabled and the vulnerable.

Jeb Bush
Governor
Tallahassee, Fla., June 17, 2005

The left cannot seem to grasp that some people really do believe that all life is precious. Valuing it is not about playing politics or being held hostage by the evangelical Christian demographic.

The cynicism is in the hearts of those that can arbitrarily assign value to some lives but not others.

What I can't grasp is how one can be cynical about cherishing life.