The Senescent Man

I'm going to point you in the direction of the best post I've come across so far on the unfolding drama of case for Terri Schiavo. It happens to be by RI Blogger Donald B. Hawthorne at Anchor Rising. This is his second posting on the subject, his first (that I saw) was posted only a couple of days ago. It is a fact filled piece with excellent insights. Just a few excerpts to spark the little gray cells:

The first major question has to do with Terri’s physical and mental condition....

Nurses who tended to Terri Schiavo…have stated in affidavits provided by her family that the 41-year-old has exhibited clear-cut behavior indicating she is conscious and aware of her surroundings.

In stunning testimony, one nurse, Heidi Law, a certified nursing assistant who took care of Terri when she was at Palm Gardens Nursing Home in Largo, Florida, in 1997, said that the severely disabled woman formed words such as "mommy, "momma," and most hauntingly, "help me."

"While it is true that those patients will flinch or make sounds occasionally, they don't do it as a reaction to someone on a constant basis who is taking care of them, the way I saw Terri do," claimed Law in a formal deposition…

The testimony…contradicts widespread perceptions that Terri is a nearly brain-dead or comatose woman living in a vegetative state…

These observations explain why her parents are seeking further medical tests of Terri before any action to starve her to death is taken. Terri’s husband and the judge have been blocking these testing requests.

An overview of medical observations on Terri over the last 15 years can be found here....

...The second big question is whether her husband’s past behaviors and current intentions are ethical....

The main evidence comes from a bone scan taken on March 5, 1991…Michael Schiavo denied her family access to Terri’s records, the results of which were not made available until November 2002. This scan indicated numerous broken bones in various stages of healing, including compression fractures, a broken back, pelvis, ankle, bone bruises and ossifications. [this is one reason why The Senescent Man is a little aghast at the report at Free Republic that insinuates Schiavo is the victim of anorexia or boulimia, not through possible foul play].

It ends with a bang. Don't read this next part if you don't want me to give away the ending...

Holocausts do not begin with operational concentration camps; they start on a smaller scale and steadily break down our resistance while many people plead that they are "too busy" to pay attention and get involved.

The stakes are enormous here and there is no neutral ground. Not to decide is to decide. The fight for Terri’s life is another battle to determine whether we are to live in a culture of life or a culture of death.

But you've got to read the whole thing. This should be made mandatory reading.