It Is Difficult To Imagine Ourselves Or Our Family Members In The Same State As Terri Schiavo Unable To Communicate, Her Brain Function Diminished, Relying On A Feeding Tube For Life

U.S.Representative, May 04, 2005

Congress met, in an emergency session, to pass legislation that gave Terri Schiavo’s case a chance in the federal court system.  I voted for the bill, because I believe we must give life every opportunity.  Congress is prohibited from passing a law with respect to just one person.  This bill, which President Bush woke up to sign in the middle of the night, seeks to give these life-and-death cases the slow, deliberate review they deserve.
 
When there is any doubt about the wishes of an American on life support or if those wishes are contested, courts of law must become involved to mediate the dispute.  Few cases are so emotional.  Still, they are decided based not on emotions, but on facts and evidence which a judge interprets to make a ruling.
 
Terri Schiavo’s tragic case has gripped the nation, dominated the news, and demonstrated the importance of living wills in U.S. law.
 
No matter what side of this dispute you agree with, Americans can no longer ignore the value of putting their dying wishes in writing before dying is even an issue.  A living will, the legal instrument for this purpose, is a document that expresses the wishes of a person regarding the use of artificial life support when the patient is too ill to express those wishes.
 
A living will only goes into effect when physicians certify that the specific conditions are present to warrant its use.  It can direct, for instance, that heart resuscitation not be used, that mechanical respirators be disconnected after a certain period of time, or that intravenous feeding be stopped.  A living will can also direct that life support continue indefinitely and that every medical effort be made on behalf of the patient’s life.  If living wills had been generally understood and accepted, Terri Schiavo’s case would have been settled and her wishes observed years ago.  Her family would have been spared the ordeal that has divided them, whatever that document would have said.
 
Less than 30 percent of adult Americans, however, have a living will.
 
This is a mistake many of us are making.  More Americans have legal documents to govern how their estates are handled than how their life is handled.  Living wills are not difficult to obtain.  They are not expensive.  They may not even require you to hire an attorney, though a lawyer can certainly draw one up for you if you wish.
 
If you need the living will, though, it can be invaluable to you and your family.  Just as important as the legal document is the discussion you should also have with your loved ones.  Talking about the difficult subject of death can be very hard, I know, but not when you compare it to what the Schiavo family has endured for these long years of disagreement over what Terri wanted.
 
In general, the Schiavo case has been difficult for America because we are so attuned to the value of life.  Abortion and euthanasia are the only other issues that inspire such heated moral debate in the public arena.  Yet, all three of these issues begin in the private homes of Americans where decisions are made for those who cannot always make decisions for themselves.
 
Our obligation as a civilized society is to make sure that these decisions respect the rights of the people whose lives are at stake.  As human beings we are prone to error, but, as President Bush said, we must always err on the side of life.
 
Without a living will, the will to live may not always be enough to sustain life.  Whenever
possible, we must make the choice for ourselves before our darkest hour arrives.”