Personal freedom & individual rights

I really don't want to discuss the Terri Schiavo matter. To me, she deserves to die privately and with whatever dignity she can, given the circumstances. However, I must editorialize a bit because of the issues it has led to; namely the social and political consequences that it has created.

First, I start by saying that this could all be "solved" if her husband (if you can actually call him that) would be a man and do the right thing. I do not wish to create an argument regarding my position, but given the questionable circumstances surrounding this situation, his apparent resumption of life without his "wife" and creation of a new "family", and the Schindler's willingness to take care of their daughter, Michael Schiavo should just grant them custody and move on. It would be the decent thing to do.

As a society, however, we must not view this from only a moral point-of-view. Each individual can see this in the light of his or her own morality and likely justify the feelings they hold. The larger issue is how this has been handled by "the system."

Given the the laws of the State of Florida as I have come to understand them, this case has been decided correctly. Regrettably, Terri does not have a living will or any other form of document to outline her wishes. While many call her husband's claim hearsay, what he claims is acceptable and has been accepted by the courts. It may be dubious, given that it took seven years for him to mention it; but, in the absence of a living will and an individual able to communicate, this is what the law provides for.

As the case has unfolded, too many people have gotten involved, perhaps only to advance their own agendas. It has become a federal issue and Congress even passed a special law to allow this to go through the federal courts one last time. People and activists on both sides of the political spectrum (and of life) seem to have an opinion. The debate can and will rage for quite sometime, likely forever.

A much larger problem is developing, though. It is basically the fact that federalism as our Founders intended it is gone. Also, "government" in and of itself seems to be the caretaker of one's liberty. The judiciary in particular has decided an individual's rights in this instance and they have decided that she should be "allowed" to die.

Most of my dispute is with the courts. Yet again, the court system has been granted the status of final arbiter of a case; in this case, an innocent and handicapped woman's life. How far has this country come? Three separate but equal branches of government no longer exist. Nor do states' rights mean anything anymore. The only reason this didn't remain a federal issue is because, regardless of the actions of Congress (which I cannot say I necessarily agree with), the federal courts towards the "end" really wouldn't touch this issue. [Many judicial analysts have claimed this decision was made "so as to not set a precedent."] The federal judiciary has again decided to pick and choose want it wants to pontificate and ultimately legislate on, the will of an elected body be damned. And a woman will lose her life because of all of this.

As I said before, I think that by and large, the "correct" legal decision has likely been made. It has been and should have been a state issue and likely will lead to many states reassessing the laws that they have in place for cases such as this. While like many have said, I think we should err on the side of life, I also don't think that, in a scenario such as this, life should be decided by a court system. The rights of everyone are being eroded in this case. That will be brought to bear by the ramifications it will have in the future. The unfortunate part is that, again the government and especially the judiciary, is dictating our rights. Again, a woman will die because of that.

I wish no ill will to anyone involved. I hope that the precedent that is set is not a legal or political one, but rather a personal one that encourages all Americans to take control of their lives, and perhaps even their deaths. We need to see the runaway stupidity of this whole mess. That without a written document, a life is in the balance and many others will be affected by that, if not ruined. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...that is guaranteed in the Constitution. Erosion of personal freedom and individual rights is what the system has evolved that guarantee in to. And 'We the People' have allowed it to happen. From the many lessons to be learned here, make the most important be to demand responsibility, from your government (all branches and all officials, elected or not) and from yourself.

God speed Terri Schiavo.