The parallels are uncanny...

The only essential and moral difference between the situations, IMO, is the amount of prison time facing the perpetrator. From here:

Man Faces Trial for Wife's Starving Death

By KRISTEN WYATT ASSOCIATED PRESS

ELKTON, Md. (AP) -

Weighing just 81 pounds, Mary Elizabeth Kilrain was found dead in a sparsely furnished, filthy room that was outfitted with a doorknob locking it from the outside.

Authorities say the 46-year-old woman was starved to death by her longtime partner, John Joseph Dougherty, who took care of her after an aneurism in 1999 left her unable to work.

"It was just deplorable conditions, to say the least," said Sgt. Bernard Chiominto, a detective for the Cecil County Sheriff's Department. "Just the stench alone coming from the room. It was one of the worst ones I'd ever seen."

Dougherty faces trial Monday on charges of neglect, involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder. If convicted, he could go to prison for more than 30 years.

This story begs some questions:

1. What is the essential moral difference between this case and the Terri Schiavo case? Was it the presence of a court order? Was it that Elizabeth Kilrain was more mentally alert than was Terri Schiavo?
   
2. Why is it that Dougherty is facing 30 years hard, while Michael Schiavo is today (as was always the case) a free man?

And in another uncanny parallel:

After the aneurism, Dougherty started a relationship with a woman 20 years his junior, and 33-year-old Kathleen Zeman was living in the house with two of her own children when Kilrain died.

Zeman was charged with neglect, though those charges were later dismissed by a judge. Reached by telephone, Zeman declined an interview.

"People are not going to like that he had a girlfriend right before his wife passed away," Riddle said. Still, the lawyer says Dougherty tried his best to find help he could afford.

Oh, okay--you can get all legalistic about it and say that Terri Schiavo's death was state-sanctioned, in a nursing home vs. a private home, etc.,. But I defy anyone to tell me the real, essential moral differences between the two cases. And, in light of the Schiavo case, I'm still trying to figure out why Dougherty is facing hard time? I mean, as we all know by now, starvation is such a peaceful death.

(Filed under defense of life)


***UPDATE***

While researching this story, I came under another bit of irony: Michael Schiavo and his paramour were married this past January in a Catholic church!

This, even though an official news organ of the Catholic church publicly lamented:

At the reception following that memorial Mass for Terri, Father Pavone spoke powerfully about Terri's cause, the danger which her death poses for our society, and our duty to protect the lives of those who are weak and helpless. Terri Schiavo, though she could not speak, gave witness to the inherent and incalculable worth of every person. Father Pavone concluded his remarks by saying that Terri's death “is not the end of Terri's fight, it is the beginning of a new chapter! Death will not have the last word!”

Via this action, it would appear that Michael Schiavo, while perhaps not having the last word, may have nonetheless gotten his digs in. That to the eternal shame of the Catholic church that allowed him to marry with its blessing (and this is coming from a practicing Catholic).