All these people talking about Terri Schiavo and whether or not she should “live” or die (I do not believe it to be ‘living’ in a persistent vegetative state) are talking about promoting a culture that values life and being pro life and all of that. And I’m sure it sounds good, and CNN loves that sort of precise soundbite. But I don’t
think they’re seeing the larger picture.
I too, value life. I believe you probably really only get one shot at it, and it’s not really my place to say what you do with yours as long as you aren’t hurting anyone. Kiss boys or kiss girls, take up target shooting, whatever you like. As long as the people you’re kissing are consenting to it, and the targets are paper and not people, then more power to you, my friend.
But that’s not the case for everyone. I have a friend (the dearest of friends) who had cancer. He’s fully kicked cancer’s ass and he’s doing quite well actually, but let’s say for a moment that it was terminal and he had ZERO chance of beating it. It ate away and ate away until my friend wasn’t really my friend anymore, he was just sort of a shell of a person, holding on because he doesn’t know what else to do. (Trust me, if you knew him, you’d know that just giving up wouldn’t be an option.) Let’s also say for a moment he lives here in Oregon (he doesn’t, but he did, so let’s pretend). If he jumps through all the hoops and does everything correctly, he can get a dose of barbituates (I think that’s what they give you) and just go to sleep and then basically never wake up. He will be comfortable, he will be in control, he will be done. He can finally stop existing, which is all he’s done for awhile now, because cancer will totally kick your ass.
Do you think he would come to that decision lightly? Do you think it wouldn’t break his wife’s heart? Or mine? But in the end I would be happy for him, since he would be at peace and no longer suffering the way terminal diseases make you suffer.
In the long run, isn’t that valuing life just as much? I love my friend, and I want him to be happy. He’s not one who would take to a bedridden lifestyle, I can assure you, so the option of that bottle of pills would definitely be an attractive one to him. He wouldn’t be happy wasting away, spending his last days in a bed, probably not very conscious, probably only aware of pain if anything at all. I value my friend. He is smart and interesting and kind of a dork and unbelievably cool and he’s funny and weird in the same ways I am. I basically take it for granted that he’s not some kind of idiot, so if he were to come to such a decision I would respect it. I would be absolutely brokenhearted to lose him, but I’d be losing him anyway, and he’d rather go out with a party and a casuela in that giant earthenware pot, I’m sure. And apparently by thinking that maybe he’d be better off or happier or at least at peace, I’m not supporting a culture of life by demanding that my friend stick it out until the very end. I *do* value his life, and that’s why I would totally respect his decision to end it. Maybe if I were in his shoes that’s not the route that I would take. But I can’t begrudge him the option just because I may come to a different conclusion. I don’t think anyone is taking a longer or more balanced view. And I think for news channels to keep repeating that crap is to belittle anyone who has made that decision for themselves, or been the loved one of someone who has. What it comes down to is the person attached to that life, and what they choose to do with it.
