The new civil rights movement

That’s what I call the advocacy for disabled, impaired, and seriously challenged patients in America. Okay, in many countries.

Canada is one of them.

Why is dehydrating and starving a dying or disabled person becoming acceptable? Howls of outrage would be heard if the same thing was done to a crippled animal. Take away food and water from a dying man and its death with dignity. Take food and water away from Fido when he’s in his last days and it’s an inhumane cruelty.

That’s the surreal truth today.

In 2005, disabled American Terri Schiavo was dehydrated and starved to death. Her estranged husband’s lawyer, and right to die champion, George Felos, described her death as “peaceful and beautiful”. Did he actually think the public was dumb enough to believe his despicable lie?

A few months after Terri’s judicial murder, my wife and I were visiting with Terri’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. They described her death. It was not peaceful nor beautiful! It was dreadful, so utterly and unspeakably horrible.

The founder of Human Life Matters not only writes about this, he’s living it.

In the present climate of North America’s Culture of Death and abdication of its previous sanctity of human life ethos, I am at risk of meeting a similar fate as Terri’s, should my degenerative multiple sclerosis fall beneath some arbitrary standard for “quality of life.” After all, I am serious disabled with MS: If my current state of triplegia moves to quadriplegia, then on to being bedridden (and there’s a strong possibility it will), I will be increasingly viewed as a liability rather than an asset to my society. I will be a financial burden to the state, or as the Nazi’s termed people like me: a “useless eater.” Some medical bean counter or bioethicist will impatiently tap his toe at the end of my hospital bed and think, “Time’s up, old man. We need this bed for a patient that medicine can actually heal.” Of course, in public or at the hospital ethical consultation, he will say my case is “futile”. He may use any suitable reason to euthanize me that’s in keeping with respectable bioethical guidelines of Autonomy, Beneficence, Nonmaleficence or Justice.

Can you imagine?

Try. Because anyone can wind up in this situation. Which is why the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation works constantly to change the ‘culture of death’. Part of that work is the radio show ‘America’s Lifeline’. (Yes, I host it together with Terri’s brother and sister.)

There’s another Terri Schiavo out there and her case is very similar. Karen Weber’s husband went to court to end his wife’s food and water and her family is battling to save her life and provide her care. Same story, almost. Hear the rest of it from Karen’s mother and sister this Saturday on ‘America’s Lifeline’ at 3 pm Eastern. The show streams live at that link above, and here. We just learned it’s the No. 1 downloaded podcast on WGUL. For a reason. Relatively few people are out there actively working for these kinds of health care rights, trying to be a voice for the voiceless.

Mark Pickup is doing that at Human Life Matters. Wesley J. Smith is doing that constantly (and speaking of Canada, he’s got a post on that right now). There are others. Individuals can do a lot more than they think. Be part of the movement.

Start by doing something – something simple – for Karen.