Toughest Choice

20 October 2003


Family Fights over Right to Die

Government exists to establish and enforce the rules by which a society operates. On that score, the US government has failed a family in Florida divided against itself over the question of continued life support for a comatose woman. Whatever laws are passed with be hotly disputed and will trouble most Americans. However, without legislation governing this kind of situation, more families will suffer.

At the age of 26, Terri Schiavo had a heart attack in 1990 that has left her in a coma-like state. Her husband has prevailed in court to get the feeding tube removed, saying that that is what she said she wanted. Her parents have resisted, and the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland, Florida, was their last hope. The state and federal supreme courts have decided not to interfere.

The details of this case are clouded by malpractice payments that the husband received that were not shared with the parents. He is the legal guardian; they are not. They have tried to get his guardianship revoked. Their challenge hangs on whether she has had adequate medical attention to aid her recovery. Her husband says his in-laws are in denial. It is a sad and messy situation

What is clear in this episode is that there is a fuzziness in the law. In a case like this, fuzziness is just not good enough. America needs laws that define quite clearly what happens, who is in control of the situation, and for how long a situation is allowed to persist when such a case arises. The country has taken a partial step in providing for living wills. But in the case of someone without such a will, it is cruel not to have an explicit system for resolution.

In the bad old days, such an issue never arose because keeping comatose people alive for years wasn't possible. Now, a moral issue needs to be addressed. There are probably no votes to be won in this fight, no campaign contributions to collect. But it is a job for the entire government to address. As Governor Jeb Bush said, "This is not an easy situation for anyone." With clear-cut, national legislation, it might not be quite so hard.

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