Life and Death

Life and Death

Over the last 8 odd years there has been a continued battle between Terri Schiavo's husband—Michael Schiavo—and Terri Schiavo's parents—Bob and Mary Schindler. As much as I feel for Terri's parents, I still have several problems with this case.

First, according to scripture, the husband has sole authority over his wife's body. When a woman marries, she leaves her parents and becomes one flesh with her husband. It is the same with a man, he leaves his parents and becomes one flesh with his wife.

Ephesians 5:21-33

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind - yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.

Mark 10:6-10

But from the beginning of creation, "God made them male and female.' "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter.

1 Corinthians 7:4

For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Clearly a husband has the right to make decisions for his wife. Further, the husband is in the best position to know what his wife would wish. Parents know you when you are a child and have childish thoughts, you spouse knows you as an adult when you put your childish thoughts behind. When a person matures their wants and desires can change dramatically. Lacking information to the contrary, it is appropriate to accept a husband's or wives' indication of the spouses wants.

In Terri Schiavo's case, as much as the parents want their daughter to stay among the living, it was Michael's place to make the decisions as to what his wife would want.

However, on a different note, there is another consideration. A consideration that seems to be lost to those who advocate a persons right to life, yet should well be their first consideration.

This world has limited resources, particularly in the area of medicine, every dollar we spend on one person is a dollar not available to any other person. There is a method practiced by medical personnel called triage. They will check each person requesting services and prioritize them according to the severity of their injury. How many of us, in pain, at the emergency room, end up waiting for hours and get angry. We watch others come in after us and get seen by a doctor before us. We are so used to first come, first serve that we expect it even at the emergency room.

Over the last 15 years Terri Schiavo's medical treatment has cost a huge amount of money. Not to mention the cost of all the courts and legislatures that have made decisions or tried to intervene. I suspect that the total is probably up in the millions.

I can't help but wonder how many children in this country have died in the past 15 years for lack of medical treatment. I can't help but wonder how many children that money might have saved! It may seem cold but we need to check our priorities, spending millions to keep someone alive for a few more months or keep a person who has no quality of life and little or no possibility of a future at the expense of untold others.

In some countries, everyone has more or less equal access to available medical treatment. In this country those with the most medical coverage get the most treatment. Our medical institutions seem perfectly willing to spend millions to provide a person with a few more moments of life.

Where are our priorities? Who do our children's health not come first. Why are will willing to spend millions on a woman who has little or no higher brain function. while young children die because their parents cannot afford medical help? I find it even more mind boggling why people protest allowing a brain damaged woman to die in peace and call themselves right-to-lifers, yet ignore the hundreds of children, thousands if you include the whole world, who's lives are being destroyed by a lack of medical care.

I think that the right-to-lifers really need to understand that everybody has a right to life, everybody has a right to die and resources need to be used to help those who can most benefit from them. Meaning, those who have the greatest quantity and quality of life ahead of them.

Amen