I’ve kept pretty quiet on this subject for some time, but now that it has hit the national news big time I guess I have to give some opinion. I am referring to the Terri Schiavo case.
I see two sides, one with rather evil intentions, and one with wishful thinking. The evil side is the husband. At this point, based on the evidence it is clear that his only concern is to get his hands on the money won in the previous law suit based on the initial cause of Terri’s condition. It was quite a bit of money and her husband had agreed, in court, to use that money to get her help. Instead he just shoved her in a hospice and even refused to have infections treated. He then got a new girlfriend. If it isn’t obvious that he just wanted her to die then you would have to be pretty stupid.
On the other side, the parents want to gain custody of her so they can use the settlement money for her therapy. These are good intentions, but I think it is wishful thinking. I can’t see how Terri will ever recover enough to have a meaningful life. But, since Terri left no indication of how she would want to handle such a situation, what choices are made should be between Terri, her parents, and God.
What I can’t understand is why a judge can’t see through the husband’s disgusting behaviour and simply award custody to the parents, along with the settlement money. This is setting a dangerous legal precedent that could allow other husbands to find similar ways to kill their wives, and last time I checked we don’t live in the middle east. And this has spent way to many tax dollars going through the courts when the decision seems like it would be so obvious. If the parents have custody the financial responsibility falls on them, not the tax payers.
As for Terri, what happened to her is very sad. I’m not sure she can recover from her condition. Personally, if such a thing ever happens to me, please kill me. I think we treat our pets better.