Tuesday, April 12, 2005

'more than private concern'

If you will just tolorate another post on Terri Schiavo, I will point you to an impressive Slate article I just came across by Harriet McBryde Johnson. I would rather be moving on to other topics, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that just because Terri has passed on so tragically, doesn't mean I have to let the issue drop. I've already been guilty of letting many things pass that could have been shared.

It's literally been about two years since I read anything on Slate. I must have had an early bad experience. There was one terrific line I read in this article that took my fancy. If you read the full piece you will discover the interesting fact that the author is facing the possibility of a feeding tube in the near future. At least keep that in mind when you read this paragraph:
I hope against hope that I will never be one of those people in the shadows, that I will always, one way or another, be able to make my wishes known. I hope that I will not outlive my usefulness or my capacity (at least occasionally) to amuse the people around me. But if it happens otherwise, I hope whoever is appointed to speak for me will be subject to legal constraints. Even if my guardian thinks I'd be better off dead—even if I think so myself—I hope to live and die in a world that recognizes that killing, even of people with the most severe disabilities, is a matter of more than private concern.
(emphasis mine)

Powerful to say the least. Again, if you read the whole piece, she provides an even better context.
<< Home 2 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just because the "newsworthiness" of the issue has died down in the media, does not mean that you have to stop pondering it. Thank you for sharing that---it is a powerful quote. --SB

7:48 PM, April 12, 2005  
Blogger Rebekah said...

How has it come to this--when people are actually scared to death that someone will deny them sustenance in their hour of need? God bless all children who care for their aging parents, all husbands and wives who nurture their spouses in "sickness and in health".

8:20 PM, April 12, 2005  

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