Mercy Killing or Murder?

I was keen to learn abt Terri Schiavo's case after reading abt it in Mannat's blog, more so bcoz we had a similar case of Euthanasia in Venkatesh who succumbed recently to Muscular Dystrophy. I scanned through the pages of the Internet to learn abt the Schiavo case and was alarmed at the findings.

How can Euthanasia be administered without the consent of the patient? There is no evidence that Terri would have wanted to die under these circumstances, except her huband, Michael's statements. His relationship with another lady from whom he even has two children leads me to speculate that something somewhere is amiss. Moreover, when her parents are insisting that they want their child back, how can he have the heart to get her killed, all in the name of mercy killing? I think he ought to have mercy on her parents first.

Michael got her feeding tube removed on March 18, which means Terri is starving since two weeks. This is abject cruelty, inhumanity. It seems her husband is her legal guardian - I'm uncertain what this means, but it appears to give him some authority to take decisions for Terri.

Venkatesh's case was somewhat different. He was in a conscious state, hence could repeatedly express his wish to die, so that his organs could be donated. Here, without Terri's explicit statement, it's unfair to starve her to death by merely banking on Michael's word that she would not have wanted to be kept alive this way.

Medical experts say, now that she's in her thirteenth day without food and water, her organs would have deteriorated beyond repair & restoring the tube wouldn't do much good. This is a highly unfortunate situation. Around fifty people have been arrested for trying to feed her. Can't her husband have even an ounce of the compassion these people have for a stranger? That their daughter has been a living corpse for the past fifteen years is a mighty blow in itself. Taking away from them whatever little they have of her would be sheer transgression.

The Verdict

People would have had a particular opinion abt me prior to the 'Vicissitudes of Life' series; and after it, the verdict might be somewhat different. Quite natural. In fact, if I were someone else reading this story, I perhaps might not find the author very credible, given the impulsive decisions taken in the past.

But is it really possible for me to prove my integrity? I can just say all the commotion was unintentional, I never wanted to play around with people's lives. But who would take my word? My Ji would, my Lord would, (as I see from the comments of my last post, abhinav wud & perhaps a few other might too!) and all my efforts to actively convince anyone else are stalled.

Anyway, I've learnt a few crucial lessons. The most important of them being never to dream, never to expect anything from others. This way we can atleast keep the unbearable disappointments at bay. The extreme blow R dealt me in yesteryears continues to have its impact. I'm the once-bitten-forever-shy types with the result that I've become very wary abt expecting anything in life. But sometimes I do give in to the temptation & end up causing a lot of angst to this already sensitive heart of mine. Well, I'm trying...practice makes one perfect, they say...

Moving on, the festival of colours just went by & I feel bad abt not wishing the world on time. Nevertheless, a very belated happy Holi to anyone who comes by this message. It's never too late to send across good wishes, is it? :) Also, it was Daddyji's (Ji's father; I'm still undecided on wut to call Ji's parents ;)) birthday this Saturday. So belated warm birthday wishes to him too.

These days there's just no work at the office. I study for my exams & when I've had enough of that, switch over to my blog, after making sure that no one's prying around. On the home front, mom's going out of town tonight for the case hearing. I'll be alone. Well I'm used to it by now; just hope my viewing of Jeepers Creepers last Friday doesn't come in the way of my bravery! And I have Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kyunki..., Kahin to Hoga and Bewitched to give me company, in addition to my books ;) lol!