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The unnatural death of Terri Schiavo
My sister, Karen Levy, died of cancer two years ago. The evening before she died, I spent several hours with her in her hospice room at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. She was sleeping or unconscious, but still seemed herself, her face strong, expressing her personality and presence, even in sleep. Then, as the hours passed, it was as though her features began to recede into her face, grow smaller, and she seemed to be moving away from this world. As unrealistic as it may have been, I had not given up and was praying for her recovery, but to no avail. She died peacefully the next morning. I thought of my sister when I read this comment by Terri Schiavo’s father, Robert Schindler, in today’s news: “Terri is weakening and she’s down to her last hours. Something has to be done, and has to be done quick.”
Terri is weakening, she is dying. But not because of a cruel disease that has taken control of her body and that can’t be stopped by any human means. She is dying because the duly constituted authorities of the state of Florida are deliberately withholding from her the food and water she needs to live, and they are doing it despite the desperate pleas of her own flesh and blood. My sister’s life was taken away by a relentless cancer. Terri Schiavo’s life is being taken away by relentless human beings. Email entry |