HAVE WE TURNED A DARK CORNER TODAY?

This is a sad day for America. First and foremost though, it is a heartbreaking time for the Schindler family of Pinellas Park, Florida. We extend our deepest condolences to this brave and loving family who lost their daughter, Terri Schiavo, at 9:05 AM ET, this morning. They fought long and hard to save Terri from the jaws of a runaway judiciary system, and lost only after many appeals that fell on deaf ears. Although Terri's husband Michael said that he was fulfilling her wishes by ending her life, his motives and his integrity were and still are highly suspect.

Things must now change in the state of Florida, and across the nation regarding right-to-life issues and end of life decisions. I can recommend a few right here. First, everyone should have a living will, and some legislation encouraging (But not reguiring) that could be crafted. Not being a lawyer (thank God!) I don't have the depth of knowledge needed to address this fully, but I know that a change is needed. Second, there must be changes in the law regarding the ability of a guardian to decide when a life should be ended. It should be difficult to impossible for a guardian to remove a feeding tube from a disabled person who did not leave a written and witnessed living will, if such a move is contested. Third, any spousal guardian who abandons his/her marriage vows by moving his affections to another person should be removed from guardianship. I realize that every one of these issues are tangled and involved, but with proper language they can be worked out to the satisfaction of most people. Fourth, no judge, of any court, should have power that trumps the authority of the legislative or executive branches of government. This is an issue that has to be addressed by the US congress, and it must be an airtight law, not subject to any ruling by the Supreme Court. Fifth, any time there is conflict regarding any issue concerned with the possibility of ending an innocent life, we need laws protecting the person from those whose motives may not be in their best interest. We must make laws that mandate any error be made in the direction of life. How do we do that? Perhaps by making a national law preventing the ending of any life by any one judge or court, or by any guardian where there is a contested decision to remove a feeding tube.

Distinctions must also be made between life support on heart/lung, breathing, and other machines, and feeding tubes. In the issue before us as a nation today, a young woman who was not on any type of life support, receiving only nourishment and hydration, was killed by her husband removing the source of nourishment. We must do all that is necessary to protect disabled people who cannot speak for themselves, by enacting whatever laws are needed to keep any one person, be it guardian or judge, from ending that person's life.

All these issues are difficult, involved, and none of them are straightforward, but they must be looked at by people dedicated to the future of our country. If we do nothing, then we have turned a corner today into a dark street that leads to destruction. We have for years been sliding down toward becoming a culture of death, and if we do not interrupt this slide and change direction, we are in grave danger of becoming a nation where life is no longer precious, and the individual has no worth.