Life, the World and Everything Thereafter

Lawmakers should back off, say those with similar stories

The ongoing saga of Terri Schiavo has got me to thinking. It can be either a simple decision between terra and her husband Michael; or a complex one that may make one rethink their own arrangements in life for death.

It is commonly joked among a close circle of friends that we would not want to be on life support. What is really said is that were any one of us in the hospital and were to be unable to go to the bathroom ourselves that we would be OK with pulling the plug. The fear of needing the help of another or of having to wear a diaper being too much for us pretentious and shallow gay men. The truth is I don't know that any of us have really thought it through to its end. Would we want to have "life" continue if we were in that condition? If not then what condition would be OK and what wouldn't? Would we want the hospital to go to heroic measures or no? Where again is the line. Would anyone want to be brought back to life only to potentially suffer debilitating effects for our trauma? It is all a risk game.

Does Michael Schiavo have the right to continue as Terri's legal guardian if he has, for all intensive purposes, already moved on. He has a girlfriend and children by her. The apparent reason he has not married her is to retain custody of Terri as her legal husband. I would believe that he has been by her side and has not abandoned her because he feels that he is doing what Terri would have wanted. If he wanted to give you on that marriage so as to move on he could have done so long ago without fighting for what he believes are Terri's wishes. But that does put some speculation into the equation.

Is Terri still alive now?!? I mean her body is still functioning as a body, save that she cannot feed herself, nevertheless it does otherwise work as a body, or a vehicle if you will. The argument to have her feeding tube removed is that in her persistent vegetative state the cognitive part of her brain is damaged and will not return. Is the cognitive part of ones brain the seat of the soul? Is the driver of this vehicle gone? or is the soul still inside? and if so what has become of it? Is the soul aware of what is going on but unable to communicate through its vehicle? or is it too broken (unconscious, asleep, what have you...)? Will we ever know?

Is it our right to intervene in the private matters of other private individuals? What happened to the Republican party that so champions states rights? What ever happened to the rule of law? In the past year we have heard increasingly of activist judges overruling legislation now we have activist legislators. The hypocrisy of it all bothers me. People seem to have forgotten that there are three branches of government for a reason and that the courts system is not merely that pesky little brother but is supposed to have equal share with the other two. Let's not forget that.

In any event this should be enough of a wake up call to begin planning for a living trust and durable power of attorney. That all would be easier of course were same-sex marriage easier but not impossible (except for Virginia)