Mercy, Grace and Dignity at the End of One's Life:

Mercy, Grace and Dignity at the End of One’s Life: The Terri Schiavo Legacy
http://blog.radioleft.com/blog/_archives/2005/4/1/540172.html
By Mary MacElveen

Around this country there are many hospices whose sole purpose is to care for their dying patients at the end of their life. They do it with compassion, professionalism thereby affording their patients mercy, grace and most of all dignity as death approaches. This notion that by pulling a patient’s feeding tube is starving them to death is reprehensible. The doctors and nurses give pain medications to those who may feel pain and they prescribe drugs such as Zanax if a patient is feeling any anxiety during the death process. By stating that patients such as Terri Schiavo are being starved to death is totally uncalled for and it lessens and degrades these health care professionals who care for these most vulnerable patients. At the end of my father’s life while in hospice care at home where he was no longer able to take in any nourishment or water, he was medicated so that he could pass peacefully and these professionals who helped my father did so with the utmost respect for him and for my family.

Perhaps the time has come for us as a nation to revisit a practice known as physician assisted suicide if we see the cessation of feeding tubes as being barbaric where the dying patient lives for thirteen days as Terri did. Perhaps if we afforded these patients the right to choose how they die, that would be the merciful thing for us as a society to do for them. This way, they can pass easily and with little discomfort.

Some may say that suicide is a sin, but shouldn’t it be the patient’s choice where their decision is between them, their doctor and their God? In my opinion the true sin is where the only medical option afforded these patients is to let them linger for days where some may feel pain and go through periods of anxiety.

Many states that practice the death penalty have opted to put to death condemned prisoners by lethal injection because they saw other practices as being barbaric. So, why are they afforded mercy where innocent dying patients are not? There seems to be a disconnect there and even hypocrisy. We as a society will humanely put a prisoner to death in a matter of minutes, yet a dying patient who has done nothing wrong must linger for days?

The guidelines of how this practice of letting a dying patient ends their life must be handled with great care so that no abuses will occur. Perhaps those more learned in the this field can come together and set the guidelines so that we as a society can afford these patients the true mercy, grace and dignity they should be afforded in the last days on Earth.

Do I honestly think that we as a country can even consider this as an alternative right now? Sadly with the religious right wing having a stronghold on our government, the answer is no. But, this debate must continue if we are truly to honor one’s wishes while they are still alive. If a dying patient is of clear mind where they have had enough of the pain, then who are we to say no to them? If a person who is not sick yet and chooses this manner of death through a living will, then again, who are we to say no to them? Where is the compassion in saying no to a terminally ill patient?

What do we do with people who find themselves in a persistent vegetative state who left no living will such as Terri Schiavo? We approach those cases using the utmost care and what their spoken wishes were in life. Again, we as a society must come together to see that no abuses occur where we do not see the media circus that surrounded her vigil for days on end. This is where we as individuals must take the responsibility now and fill out living wills and file them with the proper authorities to see that our wishes are carried out. If such a practice of physician assisted suicide ever comes into practice then the patient requesting it must meet with a psychologist so that again no abuses are occurring where the dying patient may feel undo pressure to end their life.

When President Bush said, "In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life," the same could be said before he bombed Iraq where it was not clear that Iraq had WMDs where he did not let the weapons inspectors do their jobs and kicked them out of Iraq where there was no favor of life.

If we are truly to honor life, then we must also honor those that tonight are going through a death process hooked up to various life support measures where there is no hope for them to live the life they would want. If we are truly a free society, then we must be free to make our own decisions as we near death without the government saying—“No you can’t.” I will say it again a prisoner is afforded more mercy at his or her own death by lethal injection where these innocent patients must linger for days on life support or the cessation of life support. Where is their mercy and where is any compassion shown them?

End Note: I want to say to all of those health care professionals who work in our country’s hospices thank you. You all are doing God’s work here on Earth. To Terri Schiavo I wish you eternal rest in Heaven and my prayers are with your husband as well as your parents and your siblings. May God give them peace here on Earth.

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The Terri Schiavo legacy
ObviousNews.com, Canada - 5 hours ago
The passing of Terri Schiavo ends one of the most protracted and high-profile right-to-die cases in American history. But beyond ...
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Schiavo's legacy: A fight on rules for dying
International Herald Tribune, France - Apr 1, 2005
WASHINGTON The broader legal battle in the Terri Schiavo case - over laws that govern when and how a patient dies - is just getting started. ...
Terri Schiavo's legacy to be seen in varied aspects of American ... Bradenton Herald
Terri Schiavo's legacy a lesson for Congress The Republican
Schiavo’s legacy: Reassess end-of-life process Virginian Pilot
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