Can Schiavo die in peace?

September will mark the third anniversary of my grandfather’s death. He was a good, strong man-a Baptist minister in a small country church, a carpenter, a barber. Though he lacked a formal education, he held the wisdom of 80 plus years on this earth. Unfortunately, he was not blessed with a quick death. Death stole from my grandfather the things he loved most in life: sitting on the deck and enjoying the view, visiting with the family he knew and loved, working in the yard and taking care of the house he helped build. He died of congestive heart failure over a year’s time as his organs shut down one by one. In the end, he hardly even knew me.

Yet, my grandfather’s slow death was merciful compared to the death of one woman in Florida. Terri Schiavo has been dead in spirit, if not in body, for 15 years. The heart attack she suffered in 1990 left her brain damaged, incapable of consciousness or cognition. Her brain stem survived, leaving her body alive even though her mind had died. There she has been, for 15 years, suspended between the worlds of the living and the dead. Death has robbed her of more than he took from my grandfather. Death has taken everything but her life, leaving her with less than she would have if he had taken that too. Death has driven her family apart, torn her country in two, and left her without the peace of heaven. Somehow, my grandfather seems lucky.

As horrible as Death is, people sometimes make it worse. Schiavo’s death has been especially heinous. In leaving her brain stem alive, Death has allowed her body to continue to blink and smile, leading her parents to hold out hope that she may one day recover. And so, out of their grief for their daughter and hope for recovery, Schiavo’s parents have kept her artificially alive, suspended between heaven and earth. Without her man-made feeding tube, her God-given life would be over.

If only this was all that Death has taken from Schiavo. Motivated by their grief and hope, Schiavo’s parents have not only prolonged her artificial life, they have made her inevitable death a political issue. Their continuous lawsuits and political appeals have transformed Schiavo into a living martyr for the religious right. Private home videos are on national television. Reporters update us daily, even hourly, on her condition. Death has certainly taken a lot from Schiavo, but her parents have robbed her of her dignity and privacy.

As my grandfather died, I was torn by my grief for his loss and by a desire for his suffering to end. It hurt when, days before his death, he looked at me and asked about my daughter, when I didn’t even have a wife. My grief at my grandfather’s demise cannot compare to the grief of Schiavo’s family; I do not pretend that it does. For Schiavo’s family, the conflict between grief and mercy is intensified a thousand fold by her young age and their hope for recovery. In his casket, my grandfather looked peaceful, better than he had in years. I found comfort in his lifeless body; his suffering had ended. By fighting to keep Schiavo’s feeding tube in place, her parents deny her the peace of heaven and themselves the comfort of her calm. By making her death a political issue, they have taken what Death has not.

Brandon Holcomb
Graduate Assistant
The Colonnade

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 25 2005. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry