The Opposite of Progress

It was really heartening to see the President cut short his weekend vacation to catch an emergency flight to Washington, where he was to consort with a hyperkinetic Congress desperate to confront the great crisis threatening our Nation's Welfare. Terrorism? No. Natural disaster? Uh-uh. Reforming Social Security? Nope, too complicated. Terry Schiavo's feeding tube? Bull's-eye.

Or something else from a bull. Not at least since Elian Gonzalez was kidnaped by Good Florideans from his evil Cuban papi has a personal issue so galvanized our representatives. And never has there been such blatant grandstanding, from both parties, to a specific constituency, the Reactionary Christian Right. So despite three Florida judicial rulings, the House passed a law specifically addressing the Schiavo case, as though it is any different from any right-to-die cases scattered across the country. (The Senate also passed it by acclamation, though only three senators were in attendance. Why 3% constitutes a quorum is an issue too bewildering to consider here). So now a different Florida judge can give custody of the poor young woman to her parents, from whence she came, rather than her husband. Note how we don't hear very much about the "sanctity of marriage" in regard to this situation.

Though I am clearly in favor of "right to die" laws, including euthanasia if demanded by the patient, I must admit that the Schiavo situation is somewhat more troubling, because she is not in a coma, is at least a little sentient, and has a remote chance for recovery. I'm not privy to the medical details, which are crucial here. The husband believes she never wished to sustain her life in such a state, and that fifteen years of total fuzzy-headed dependency is quite enough. And the means to release her of her mortal coil is to starve her to death, rather than simply pulling the plug on a respirator. The parents insist that she wants to live. They interpret every grunt from her uncomprehending face to be a plea for survival, but that seems more likely projection. Yet can one blame them for wanting to keep hope alive, and not wanting to watch their little girl starve to death? This is definitely not a clear-cut case, though Florida's judiciary seems to think so.

For me the issue goes beyond the tragic individual case. The extraordinary emergency legislation says much more about our cultural/political landscape than it does about its subject matter. If this were an election year I could understand the pandering to the Right, if not approve of it. But the next round of elections is not for 18 months, when this issue will be barely a blip in anyone's memory. Why is it so important to kowtow to the Fundamentalists? Are Congressmen feeling reticent about maintaining pro-Choice advocacy and feel this will somehow soften their rad-left credentials? What a morbid bandwagon this issue has created.

The question of misapplied priorities is too important to ignore. Would Congress ever apply such hasty unanimity to save a person on Death Row whose guiilt has been thrown into question because of DNA evidence? I doubt it. Yet it is a matter of supreme importance that this one life be extended. Will the Fundamentalists really rest easier at night knowing that poor Terry will go on and on, breathing, living uncomprehendingly and certainly unproductively, burdening her parents with the care of someone as responsive as a chia pet, and trapping her spouse in the limbo of non-husband, non-widower status?

Yes, of course, they will. Because Terry is a Floridean, and come 2008 they could very well use her vote.