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Be sure to document your wishes on end-of-life care

Who can deny that the controversy over Terri Schiavo's end-of-life crisis is one of the most dramatic stories of our time? While I am neither a doctor nor a lawyer, I respect the opinions of those who are experts in both of those professions.

Each of us has our own personal perspective on the intricate matter of end-of-life care. Our moral teachings and religious beliefs, expert medical counsel and individual family decisionmaking should be the prevailing influences over what level of care is appropriate. But ultimately, each of us has the responsibility to make our wishes known before a crisis occurs.

How many of us have taken the step of legally expressing our wishes about extraordinary medical intervention? Without this important documentation, and sharing our wishes with our loved ones and medical professionals, we are to some degree at the mercy of the decisionmaking of strangers.

Absent such legal documentation, questions can arise, stresses will be felt by your loved ones, and there is no way you can be assured that your personal decisions will be respected.

I urge you to make an appointment with an attorney to create a sound record of your health care and financial wishes. The Florida Bar and the Florida Medical Association recently launched a public service campaign to educate Floridians about end-of-life issues. Visit http://www.flabar.org click on the Consumer Services section and then find the Living Will link to access the living will and health care surrogate forms.

Please take my counsel to heart as a celebration of the season of rebirth and freedom and as a signal to your loved ones of how much you care.

Terri has committed no crime

What has become of our society when a spouse, in conjunction with our court system, can decide that since Terri Schiavo has no possibility of being "restored" to a "normal" life, she must die? There is no written "living will," from Terri, and all conclusions that she would not have wanted to live this way are based on "hearsay."

If being "useless" in the eyes of society makes us incapable of appreciating and defending the gift of life, then we have descended to the lowest depths of humanity. Terri has committed no crime, yet her destiny appears not unlike that of many men and women who get capital punishment for their crimes. I support every effort in defense of Terri's right to life.

It's in God's hands

I am a registered nurse. I am also a conservative Republican. I, however, disagree with the government becoming involved in this case. Whatever your belief is, the government has no right to usurp the state's rights.

We have been told that there is no cerebral cortex function left in Terri's brain. If she were my daughter, hard as it would be, as a practicing Catholic, I would let go and let God.

I firmly believe that the day we are born is the day God knows when he will bring us home to him. Any good Catholic holds this belief. Terri may live or die, but she will not die until God decides.

Act on the side of compassion

Terri Schiavo's family is willing to assume full responsibility for her care. Her physical health is good except she can't feed herself. I can't imagine a criteria for death is not being able to feed oneself. Most severely disabled individuals can have this difficulty.

We can be imprisoned for not feeding our pets, yet we can starve another human and the courts prevent those with compassion to intervene.

We hear the drumbeat of tolerance, which leads to apathy. Just ignore things that others do that are outside of "normalcy." Yet compassion that compels action, intervention on another's behalf, is condemned. I ask everyone to consider acting on the side of compassion.

Congress was out of bounds

I never thought I would see the day when Congress would try to make decisions on family matters and do it in such haste that "the whole truth of the situation" had not been digested, only the "framework" of what is happening to Terri and Michael Schiavo.

The attempted intervention by Congress was totally out of bounds. Husbands and wives make their decisions based on their "wishes" and only they should abide by what each other says during their married life.

Politicians will do whatever it takes "for the vote." We have come to a sorry state when government might rule over our personal lives.

Schindlers' supporters are courageous

Re: Profiles in political courage, editorial, March 23.

I fail to see how allowing a woman to starve to death is a profile of political courage. This is not a cut and dry case of what Terri wanted. Her husband did not even "recall" that she didn't want to live like this until years later. This man is living with another woman while still married to Terri. He has no right any longer to be her guardian.

Her parents want to care for her. Why not just walk away and let them? These people have suffered too much because of a callous and cold man, Michael Schiavo. I congratulate the Republicans and Democrats alike who have supported the Schindlers. Those politicians are truly the profile of political courage.

Government interference

I find it very interesting that the political party that claims to be for less government interference in the lives of the American citizens (the Republican Party) has tripped over itself to do just that in the case of Terri Schiavo. They showed how much they pander to the radical religious right, and it has become a very scary issue for people who believe that the government has no business in these type of matters.

Hopefully, people will remember them the next time they see their names on a ballot and send them back home where they belong.

Get the word out on eating disorders

Re: Terri Schiavo.

I am waiting for the state and federal governments to start spending my taxpayer dollars where they belong in this sad situation: educating America's young people about the dangers and horrors of bulimia and other eating disorders.

Terri Schiavo's eating disorder is apparently what brought such sorrow to her family.

Too many young people are sick with eating disorders, so let this case be the starting point for real education to the living to help prevent more young loved ones from falling victim to this often fatal disease.

These energies could be redirected

How wonderful it would be for all the participants so deeply involved in prolonging the very limited existence of one human being, if a small portion of their commitment were devoted to areas in the world where thousands of lives, many of them children's, need saving every month.

[Last modified March 24, 2005, 01:19:16]