Daily Egyptian Editorial 05
Sponsored by 710 BookStore - - - http://www.seventen.com/Terry Schiavo should inspire hope, not pain
Dear Editor:
In response to the events prior to the death of Terri Schiavo, I'd like to make some comments. It is difficult to make any judgments on whether her husband (Michael Schiavo) was right or wrong in making the decision to remove her feeding tube. The situation must be looked at from several perspectives: Either you're the parents of Terri, her husband or Terri. The others are legal and moral perspectives. If you are the parents, you'll naturally want your child to live. If you're the husband, you'd want to do what your spouse wants, and if you're Terri herself, you'd have to communicate what you would like to happen.
From a legal perspective, Michael Schiavo is her legal guardian and is faced with the difficult decision of choosing whether to keep her on the feeding tube. And as her legal guardian, we must give him the benefit of the doubt if he tells us this was Terri's wish. Morally, we must ask whether it is right or wrong to remove her feeding tube. This is the question in which most people are divided.
In her letter to the editor, Lindsay Solomon ("Starving Schiavo not peaceful," March 29) gives the impression that Michael Schiavo does not love his wife as much as he says and that he was not committed. Never mind that he sat by her bedside for the first eight years and only left after doctors told him there was nothing else he could do. In Michael's defense, none of us can imagine what he has gone through the past 15 years seeing the love of his life deteriorate to the point where she could not even comprehend that he existed. The pain of seeing a loved one die slowly is something that none of us could ever imagine. Yes, Michael has moved on with another woman and family, but it does not mean that he did not love his Terri. His heart needed to live again, and by moving on, he could continue with life.
Terri Schiavo's story is truly a sad one, but we must not forget the hundreds of others around the world who fall into the same category but do not have as much money or connections to live as long as Terri did. They die every day. Terri's story should inspire hope and not pain. She did not choose death; she chose to go home to the creator. Romans 14:8 says, "As long as we have life we are living to the Lord; or if we give up our life it is to the Lord; so if we are living, or if our life comes to an end, we are the Lord's."
Paul Ogwal
senior, political science
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Copyright 2009 Daily Egyptian Editorial 05