The Aftermath of Terri

What Reform is Needed?

Whatever your position was, she's finally dead, and she can now stop crowding other things off the news. The big question now is: what reform is needed to prevent future cases?

The most extreme option is to say that, if there is no living will, as long as a person is breathing or their heart is beating, everything must be done to keep them alive. No questions, no exceptions. But families often have to make the choice to end varying degrees of life support to their loved ones, and sometimes they feel that it's the right choice to let them die. And even if it's not written down in concrete, sometimes the person has communicated their desires to the family members. I don't think it's fair to deprive them of that right and say everyone always has to be kept alive.

I don't like the government intruding in on personal family decisions. But when someone abuses a system, the government has to get involved. Michael abused the system. There is overwhelming evidence that he did not care about his wife's wishes or interests. But he had the authority as a husband---and I don't think husbands should be deprived of that authority---to decide whether or not to maintain the feeding tube.

I propose reform that would clearly outline the levels of authority that various family members have. If a family member objects to the decision of another with more authority(i.e. parents to husband) and if they can't work it out themselves, then there must be a legal battle. A simple one. Not to determine the fate of the disabled family member. A legal battle to determine if the family member with the higher authority is making a decision based on the person's best wishes and interests. That's vague. So I would say the only way someone can be deprived of their authority is if there is overwhelming evidence that their decision is based on selfish or outside motivations. In this case, Michael would have lost that authority, which would have been transferred to the parents.

I'm not saying that Michael was wrong and the parents were right. I'm saying Michael should have lost his authority. If Michael had wanted to keep her alive and Terri's parents wanted to kill her, then Michael could still have been deprived of his authority if something corrupt was involved (say, someone was paying him to keep her alive).

Anyway, that's the reform that I propose. Maybe I should do something active and e-mail my representatives...

Edmond the Hun