Issue date: 4/1/05 Section: Opinion

Mark Ayoub

With all the problems in our country today, I was seriously questioning Congress' priorities a few weeks ago when it decided to use valuable time to investigate steroid use. I said it was the least pressing issue at the time that Congress could get involved in. But a few days later, I realized I had spoken too soon.
During the week, a court ruled in favor of Michael Schiavo for the nineteenth time, declaring that he had the right to order the removal of the feeding tube of his vegetative wife, Terri Schiavo. Michael's logic was that she would not have wished to be left in this state. Terri's parents disagreed and continuously sued to keep her feeding tube in. Eventually, when they lost their case last week, there were no options left; Terri would finally die in peace.
Or so we thought. Never being one to miss an opportunity to score political points, the Republican leadership convened an emergency session of Congress over the weekend to pass legislation to send the case to court yet again. The Democrats, spineless as usual, had the power to block it in the Senate but chose not to, although some showed up to vote against it in the House. The Republicans were masterful in their execution; they portrayed themselves as passionate people willing to save this poor woman's life, while the Democrats wanted this person to die, supposedly.
Not too much later, a memo circulated to Republicans was discovered, talking about how Republican action on this issue would "energize the pro-life base." Simply put, that is disgraceful. They don't even care about Terri Schiavo, they just care about getting votes from their base.
Attempting to minimize damage control, Senate Majority Leader not only denied the memo but Frist, a doctor, attempted to diagnose Schiavo's condition from a few videotapes and phone calls. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, never one to avoid the limelight, also managed to get a few sound bites in, calling the removal an "act of barbarianism."
Of course, as was recently discovered by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, DeLay himself got to join in on this same act of barbarianism just a few years earlier, when he and his family decided to remove a feeding tube from his father in 1998, who was in a state similar to Schiavo. Simply put, this is not about saving Terri Schiavo's life, it is about pure political gain, and the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves.
However, I do believe that there are people who actually do believe that they should save Terri Schiavo because it is the right thing to do. But they must realize that the husband is the legal guardian in this case, and this is how the law should be, as Schiavo did not leave a will. Her husband claims that she told him this is how she wanted to die. This is consistent with what has been said by several friends.

Continued...

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