I am an incurably ill American male forced to leave America to afford the medical care I needed. I live in Mexico. I now live in a country where "pulling the plug" for whatever reason is illegal!
I am not terminally ill. I have a lifelong disability that will never get better. I am much like Terri Schiavo, the woman who the State of Florida killed because she had a lifelong, incurable disability. Notice, like me, Terri Schiavo was not terminally ill but handicapped. There is a difference!
Every handicapped person in America has to ask, "Am I next?"
Am I the next disabled person about whom, at some point in the future, someone will make a claim that I said something about the issue of life-and-death and a judge will believe it without the benefit of due process? Will someone come along without a preponderance of evidence (And should not there be a preponderance of evidence and not the word of one individual?) and have some judge some court somewhere order my death by starvation--Or by whatever means that is convenient to the court?
I wonder what the criteria will be. Will the courts be the ones who now determine whether you serve some usefulness to society? Who will define usefulness?
Moreover, I wonder why someone was not asking these questions:
? Did Terri Schiavo tell anyone other than the man who stands to make a bundle of money from a malpractice suit that she did not want to be kept alive via a stomach tube? (He claims he has already spent the money on her care. I want to see that proof!)
? Why is the court taking only her adulterous husband's word on this issue of life-and-death? Is that a preponderance of evidence?
? Can't the court see that this man has some nefarious motives?
? Have the allegations of spousal abuse been investigated fully?
? Why didn't her husband allow Terri, ever, to have physical therapy that might have improved her state?
? Is any one aware that others, in so-called vegetative states, have awakened years later?
? Can science dictate morality? Though science sometimes can tell us why something is, can it tell us what is right and what is wrong?
Something smelled fishy in this entire thing-and it still does.
What is next? Will disabled Americans whose families tire of them be able to find a judge who will order their deaths too? On the other hand, perhaps we will be told too much money has been spent on us in disability pension payments and now it is time to check out of living.
You have used up your quota! Now it is time to die.
I do not offer this as an exaggeration but an honest question. Just what is next? Every disabled person should be asking this question.
I wonder if the judge who ordered Terri Schiavo's death forgot, or ever knew, the words of Hubert H. Humphrey:
"It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."
My God, in heaven, what has America become?
Thank God, in heaven, I live in Mexico!
Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico.
His new book Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country can be seen at http://www.lulu.com/content/126241
Batchtown Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareWhen organising a country or a group of people in... Read More
The number-one question people ask us is, "What possessed you... Read More
Throughout all recorded history on our lovely little planet, Earth's... Read More
Which companies are most affected by fuel? Who really bears... Read More
The partisan feuding in the U.S. Senate over federal judicial... Read More
We see today a fierce unspoken competition between trucks and... Read More
As you can see from some of our previous articles,... Read More
Ethanol is a great way to produce fuel, great fuel... Read More
Ohio's transportation sector seems to be strong, even with Ohio's... Read More
THE ROSICRUCIAN COUNCIL OF THREE:A Thelema/OTO leader who became a... Read More
Rule of Thumb for exporting technology. The American People need... Read More
Recently a friend insisted that I read a book by... Read More
In the words of a secret agent who has signed... Read More
I read an interesting article in foreign Affairs magazine last... Read More
Commission for Africa (CFA), one is made to understand is... Read More
Many are condemning the latest GM Terminator seeds. Yet there... Read More
I. OVERVIEWIn the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks... Read More
Many non-profit groups are feeling upset that they are allowed... Read More
What has really changed in the housing market with regards... Read More
Recently in Maine, I talked with a gentleman and we... Read More
In the most rewarding new industries, there is often a... Read More
When Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector exercised his right to free... Read More
The FBI recently before Congress stated that Eco-Terrorism was on... Read More
You know now that North Korea is backing down on... Read More
Where are all the high-speed trains we were promised? Where... Read More
shuttle from Midway Munster are ..Compulsory-attendance laws force parents to send their children to public... Read More
Recently I got to talking with a gentleman at a... Read More
We have heard a lot about the coming bird flu... Read More
The steel tariff taxes a few years ago hurt industry... Read More
There are many issues on the minds of US voters... Read More
Please read through this quick thought and discussion as if... Read More
Currently when we transport troops we use large cargo planes... Read More
Well the title is absolute Bull Crap, but this article... Read More
As the death toll in the avalanche-hit Jammu and Kashmir... Read More
You have in front of you two buttons, one is... Read More
I'm starting to feel squeezed by all the political correctness... Read More
OH MAN!Here we go again. I guess now the "proof... Read More
A quick look back at NAFTA; how did we do?Stabilizing... Read More
Any chances for a country to be ruled by alternative... Read More
Federal Regulations on Business Destroy America, these regulations are a... Read More
Entrepreneurs can clean up the environment if we would let... Read More
In the most rewarding new industries, there is often a... Read More
In today's Rants from Lance session I address the question... Read More
Everyone knows the United States Government often falls down in... Read More
If slavery has not worked well, then cloning if it... Read More
While many Pennsylvanians are struggling to figure out how they... Read More
When were the forms of media created? When did advertising... Read More
It appears we are getting a little bit of Sun... Read More
Many environmentalists are against roads through the forest because it... Read More
Since the United States Government is promoting the whistle blower... Read More
Political |