Bill Wenke states that Christians owe Michael Schiavo an apology.
A lot of so-called "Christians" owe Michael Schiavo an apology.
During the days and weeks before his former wife, Terri, died of dehydration in a Florida hospice, Terri's family and their supporters kept spreading stories that Michael mistreated her, perhaps even tried to strangle her.
The autopsy says none of that is true. The medical examiner said he cannot determine why Schiavo's heart stopped unexpectedly 15 years ago, plunging her into a "permanently vegetative state." But, he said, there is no evidence she was abused.
There was evidence, however, that her brain was damaged beyond hope. It was only half its expected size. She was blind.
Do you remember the controversy? Do you remember all those taped clips of Schiavo laughing and interacting with her family? There was always something doctored about those clips.
Look, I have sympathy for her family. They lost a daughter. They don't want to believe the facts. I wouldn't either, if I were in their position. Even today, they say they don't accept the medical examiner's findings and would like to see a new report. I can sympathize with that.
What I have more trouble with is all the people who wrapped themselves in the cloak of Christianity and kept insisting that Michael Schiavo tried to murder his wife. I have more trouble with all the so-called religious people who denounced the Florida judge who ruled in Michael's favor. I have more trouble with all those who kept trying to convince of of "facts" that turned out not to be facts at all.
There is room for honest disagreement on whether people in Terri Schiavo's condition should be maintained on life support -- I include artificial food and hydration in this definition -- and there is room for the position that we should protect all life.
What there is not room for is the vilification of people, like Michael Schiavo, who are put in the position of having to make these excruciatingly difficult decisions.
First of all, the autopsy does not vindicate Michael Schiavo, it merely is inconclusive. I cannot say whether or not Michael Schiavo abused his wife in the early days of her debilitation. What I can say is that Michael Schiavo continues to be morally culpable in her death. While it may be true that Terri Schiavo's brain damage was irreversible, the lack of stimulation afforded Terri during the early and subsequent years of her debilitation most certainly contributed to that outcome. Lastly, it must be pointed out that Terri's brain damage did not cause her death. She would still be alive today, if she was not starved and dehydrated to death. The fact that she was blind and brain damaged did not make her any less human, nor less worthy of life than you or I. I have maintained throughout this ordeal that basing a person's right to live, indeed a person's
very humanity on a person's physical or cognitive ability is a
very slippery slope indeed. I have personally worked with seriously mentally handicapped adults and children who would be slated for death row based on the Schiavo criteria. Schiavo was deliberately starved and dehydrated to death, aided and abetted by the U.S. Judicial system; by far a worse form of torture than has been experienced by any Gitmo detainee. But where are Amnesty International, the ACLU, and Dick Durbin on this issue?
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