Pure political pandering

A Call To Action
Posted on Thu, Mar. 24, 2005


By Molly Ivins

Creators Syndicate

AUSTIN - • Congress had no business -- none, not one bit -- getting involved here.

I write about the Terri Schiavo case both as one who has personally confronted the "pull the plug" question and as a staggered observer of this festival of political hypocrisy, opportunism and the trashing of constitutional law, common sense and common decency.

The fundamental question in such cases is, "Who decides?" Preferably, the dying themselves, with a living will.

Evidence that Schiavo did not want her life continued in its current state has been offered and accepted in several courts. The next of kin should be legally designated to make the decision through power of attorney.

In the cases where a family splits on the decision, the case goes to court. The Schiavo case has been litigated for seven years, the verdict upheld at every level (including the U.S. Supreme Court, by refusing to hear arguments).

It is beyond comprehension, not to mention the Constitution, that the Congress of the United States and the president should have involved themselves.

What on Earth made them think they had the right to do so?

Both libertarians and constitutional conservatives, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, should be having fits over this push by the federal government into a private family matter.

Congress has no power to overturn judicial decisions, nor has it any role in such painful personal decisions. This is as arrogant a usurpation of power as we have had since FDR's court-packing plan.

George W. Bush is neither a neurologist nor a medical ethicist. What is he doing?

In 1999, while he was governor of Texas, Bush signed the Advanced Directives Act, which gives hospitals the right to remove life support in cases where there is no possibility of revival, when the family cannot pay, no matter what the family's wishes are.

In Texas, you can live in a persistent vegetative state only if you are accepted in one of the few institutions that provide such care or if your family is both willing and able to take care of you.

The very Republicans who pushed for this arrogant, interfering bill, which if used across the board would take away everyone's right to make their own decisions in these awful cases, are the same people who voted to cut Medicaid, which pays for the care of people like Schiavo.

This action for Schiavo -- what a despicable display of pure political pandering. What an insult to everyone who has faced this decision without ever considering asking 535 strangers in Washington, D.C., what to do.

How can anyone want to cede that authority to a bunch of politicians?

I am indebted to the blogger called Digby for the following points: Those who passed this bill are the same politicians who want to outlaw medical malpractice suits like the one that has provided the care for Schiavo while she was in "a persistent vegetative state." They are the same politicians who have just finished changing bankruptcy law so that it is much harder for families hit by tragedies like this to get out from under the staggering medical bills.

How dare they talk about morality?

Who are these professional anti-abortion activists who think they have the right to make decisions about someone else's life?

I watched one of the dearest men who ever lived, who had no chance of regaining consciousness, toss for hours in relentless pain before he escaped because the state of New York had such draconian drug laws that doctors were afraid to give him enough morphine to kill the pain.

The New York Legislature, in all its majesty, made sure the 76-year-old, 90-pound man dying from cancer did not become a morphine addict. Political bodies have no business making medical decisions.

Do I believe in miracles?

Yes. I'm praying for one that will let the sanctimonious phonies in Washington realize the gross moral error of their presumption.

Molly Ivins writes for Creators Syndicate. 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045