My last 2 cents on Shiavo

After my first post, I received a welcome comment from a nice person. I had a response & reaction to it, but in the end do not feel I expressed myself clearly. This will represent my last intended post on that topic - your comments are welcome, of course - I would just like to think this definitively states my thoughts about it.

I believe the government should not be trying to mind-read what someone might want or might have wanted. In the situations where that seems to arise, I see a failure in the law to be clear as to a default position. If there were a clear default position, this would be the go-to position in all cases lacking clear, even legally written, expression on the part of the person in question.

I believe in the absence of a clear, preferably written directive from Shiavo herself, the court should have no choice but to rely on the standard:
Re Browning:
In making this difficult decision, a surrogate decisionmaker should err on the side of life… In cases of doubt, we must assume that a patient would choose to defend life in exercising his or her right of privacy.

I believe that a feeding tube is not extraordinary means of staying alive. It is not the same as a full-on heart & lung life support machine. I do not believe denial of food & water is on par with switching off life support.

I believe that speculation on what can not be known about her wishes, what her family or husband want, what she might want in light of new therapies, what state of consciousness she may or may not be in, how long she has lived this way, what her medical reports say, what any expert says, what the judge thinks, what religious folk think, what political folk think, what the media chooses to report, is all irrelevant. Without a clear directive from the individual, I do not believe anyone should be able to violate her presumed wish to live.

I believe without legal enforcement of that presumption, many people with disabilities' lives will be in greater danger than they already are.

I believe that the court system has already behaved cruelly toward Shiavo, by the action of removing and reinserting her feeding tube. That is reprehensible. Get to the final decision, exhaust every single avenue, and then act one way or the other.

Well, that's all. I am not a religious fanatic or a political conservative, so I imagine my voice will be lost on this issue. Too many people are screaming. I am not screaming. I am thinking, and I am worried. To honor this woman, I am going to get my own living will in order.