saving schiavo

john wrote that only a miracle (of the Christian variety) could save terri now, and thankfully he was right.

it seems that legally the schiavo case was blessedly clear-cut in favor of mr. schiavo. that the executive and legislative interventions were ineffectual in spite of the media frenzy and public outcry and that judges were able to hold their ground despite these pressures both say something truly great about the law here in the US. in far too many other countries, authorities might well have taken control regardless of law or precedent. one only needs to scan international news – particularly in africa and transition nations – to see flagrant abuse of power.

in contrast, florida’s governor, although guilty of the iniquitous crime of being a bush, stated he simply could and would not overstep his powers. it’s not because he didn’t want to.

people will be people, and power paired with empathy tends to make some feel they should step beyond the law. this time, however, it did not work. in the face of such a powerful story, we can uphold our court decisions – even in spite of intrusions from both other branches of government.

whether or not the outcome is morally right is a different matter.

religious activists have politicized the schiavo case as a war against immoral secular law and fail to mention any conflict inside Christianity. to me, the Christian perspective is even less clear than the legal case. it is not clear to me which of our unhappy alternatives - allowing her to die or artificially prolonging her life in that state - would really be “saving” her. the answer may very well be neither – perhaps we could not save her at all, no matter the ruling. although it’s a hard answer to swallow, it may just be the right one.

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