I was reading
ABC News', "Pulling
the Plug: Ethicists Debate Ramirez Case", by Dan Childs,
ABC News Medical Unit (June 28, 2007) and found it interesting how
the defense is still up. No case is ever like Terri Schiavo's. There
is always an alleged difference, with similarities downplayed or
outright denied. Might that be because people are starting to
realize that an innocent woman was wrongly starved and dehydrated to
death, like Jesse Ramirez almost was?
We do have it
right in our face that the law does not have true safeguards in
place. Had the Ramirez family not stepped in, Jesse Ramirez would
most likely not be with us today, let alone sitting up in his bed
and interacting with people. It doesn't even matter if Rebecca
Ramirez was basing her decision upon incomplete information the
doctors provided. It shouldn't be that easy to make a mistake. After
all, this type of mistake is beyond serious -- not an Oops! It is
forever and someone is dead!
There are
several issues at hand.
Childs writes,
"The injuries Ramirez sustained in his accident were traumatic in
nature, meaning that the shock of impact likely ripped apart some of
the fragile connections in his brain, leading to his coma. "These
injuries, on occasion, can heal to a certain extent, allowing the
patient to recover functionality. This is far different from the
damage caused by anoxia, in which a lack of oxygen to the brain
causes irreparable brain damage. Those who suffer this type of
damage, including Schiavo, have a much slimmer chance of ever
regaining consciousness. "
Even if it is
true that Terri Schiavo had a slimmer chance in comparison to that
of Ramirez, do we truly know the degree? How can we know to what
degree she could have recovered if she had been afforded the therapy
that so many "think" she had? How do we know to what degree Terri
was affected by the isolation and lack of stimulation? (The latter
alone proven to be detrimental on the well-being of humans.) We
simply can't know. Nor do we know just how conscious and alert Terri
actually was in spite of all this, since tests were denied and
anyone who might suggest she was not PVS was then closed out with
attempts being made to discredit their opinion.
Similar is
that Terri and Jesse are human beings. Each had a spouse that made
the decision to place them in a hospice. Each were ordered to be
starved and dehydrated to death by the spouse. Each had family and
friends that said they were responsive.
The difference
is that Jesse had Judge Katz and Terri had Judge Greer.
In Terri
Schiavo's case, the majority of people were not aware of all the
facts nor the possibility that a conscious human being could be
starved and dehydrated to death by a spouse, guardian, court,
hospital or simply anyone. Even if one does not want to believe that
Terri was conscious,
Andrea Clark from Texas cannot be forgotten. She was
indeed conscious, but the doctor and hospital felt it was within
their rights to deem her futile and pull the plug. Perhaps if her
case had been first, Terri would have had a chance.
The media
frequently reported that Terri was brain dead, so that is what the
majority of people believed, though it was absolutely not true.
The media
frequently reported that Terri was on life support as though
machines were keeping a dead body alive. She was merely on a feeding
tube.
In Terri's
case, the truth often didn't matter. Whatever the media reported
must be the gospel. As a result, the Schindlers were often made to
look like religious fanatics that wanted to keep their daughter's
body alive at all costs. They couldn't possibly be seeing any
response because brain death makes that impossible. So, they were
either lying or misreading so-called "reflexes". But... what might
the majority of people thought, had they known the truth?
Childs'
article says, ""This guy was not hopeless and in a persistent
vegetative state by any means," says Dr. Steven Miles, professor of
internal medicine and bioethics at the University of Minnesota
Center for Bioethics."
Would we have
known that if the family hadn't intervened and Judge Katz hadn't
agreed with them?
If Terri
Schiavo's care decisions had been taken out of Michael Schiavo's
hands, might we have likewise discovered she was not in a persistent
vegetative state?
Also in the
article was, "This is by no means a miracle of any kind," Miles
says. "Traumatic comas are notorious for late wake-ups."
I agree! With
the medical and legal trends as they are, the miracle was that Jesse
was allowed a chance to live and recover.
Jesse
Ramirez's family didn't agree with his wife's decision and sought to
have his feeding tube replaced. Judge Katz granted the request,
appointed a guardian and set up a hearing. This saved Jesse's life!
Too bad Katz wasn't also the Schiavo judge. Perhaps the outcome
would have been much different. Nevertheless, when did it become
acceptable to starve and dehydrate people to death? How can anyone
suggest that is a humane thing to do only to non-criminal humans?
There is no logic.
The Schiavo
and Ramirez cases are very similar in that they show us just how
careless we have become with the lives of those who have been
injured or fall ill.
The Terri
Schiavo case was a wake up call!
Though the
snooze button appears to have been hit, with people still under
false beliefs that molded their opinions, the Ramirez case is a loud
and clear alarm going off! A man with a chance to recover was nearly
murdered by a society and its trend to be too ready to give up and
pull the plug on others. What does that say about us as a society?
Maybe it is
time to do some serious soul searching, while we still have souls to
search!
Carrie Hutchens
is a former law enforcement officer and a freelance writer who is
active in fighting against the death culture movement and the
injustices within the judicial and law enforcement systems.
