Right to die? ...or right to kill?

As Terri Schiavo's fate currently hangs in the balance of a decision by a federal District judge, so hangs the balance between the culture of life and the culture of death. It leads me to wonder; if the Schiavo execution is allowed, are the Alzheimer's patients next? Should we starve them to death? How about advanced Parkinsonian patients? Should we deny the Pope a drink of water? How about the severely developmentally disabled? Do people suffer less when their cognition is impaired?

Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? A willful witholding of food and water, effectively causing the torture and ultimate death of a cognitively disabled though otherwise physically healthy human being, is an execution. The difference between pulling a feeding tube and holding a gun to Schiavo's head and pulling a trigger can be measured with a calendar; not to mention a week or two of torture.

Why, again, are liberals opposed to the death penalty for cold-blooded murderers (which the death penalty is almost exclusively reserved for) and yet pro-death penalty for the most vulnerable amongst us (babies who have yet to be born, the infirmed, etc) who have committed no crimes?

Although I am sure that there are and have been similar, though less-publicized cases, the publicity of and outcome of this can prove to be a watershed event for either side. If the outcome is in favor of Terri Schiavo, it will be a watershed event for those who argue for the sanctity and value of life, even in its most vulnerable and precarious states.

On the other hand, if the case comes out in Michael Schiavo's favor, it will mark a watershed event for the Culture of Death. Eventually, an artificially imposed darwinism will mark the most vulnerable among us for extinction. And afterward the not-so-vulnerable. It will be morbidly interesting, dear readers, to find out how quickly you or I will be deemed "obsolete."

Allowing this execution to pass unfettered would open up many cans of worms that, rightfully, not too many of us would be in a position to stomach. Sadly, what it comes down to, is that Terri Schiavo's fate, either way, is our own.