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
disinfecting cleaning services Arlington Heights ..Without the flow of fuel our very mobile society comes... Read More
The current field of political sciences is dominated by a... Read More
The civil war in Iraq seems to be much more... Read More
With respect to the States' databases, you may not locate... Read More
The expertise and advancement of the evolution of man and... Read More
Many parents might think it a bit farfetched to compare... Read More
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Was created on July 30th 2002, by... Read More
Thought of the day; Questions about the judicial system. If... Read More
Leave it to the Columbia City Police Officers Association in... Read More
The RSS is getting feedback from its 140 pracharaks or... Read More
Prison guards and corrections professionals are hard at work insuring... Read More
The FBI recently before Congress stated that Eco-Terrorism was on... Read More
Elliot Spitzer, recently said he wanted to drive a stake... Read More
Fearful that terrorists will next target Australia, Prime Minister John... Read More
In a move that rocked the online world and left... Read More
I would like to discuss a few issues we have... Read More
We all know Elliot Spitzer is going to run for... Read More
Currently the United States has weapons, which can shoot around... Read More
Perhaps a silent revolution is taking place, this time more... Read More
All the indicators show an improving economy and, finally, the... Read More
There are many mines around the world, which are owned... Read More
Handing over power to Vladimir Putin in 1999, Boris Yeltsin... Read More
We have brain drain issues in Silicon Valley, we have... Read More
Many believe Al-Qaida already has nukes in the United States... Read More
Japan lit its candles of pure, "noble sadness" on the... Read More
bathroom cleaning service Mundelein ..The use of religion is well-documented as a social engineering... Read More
Many are condemning the latest GM Terminator seeds. Yet there... Read More
The Flow of Trade is a major consideration of civilizations... Read More
Visible remnants of the world's eldest democracy can be seen... Read More
Aspartame activists are constantly being attacked because all data are... Read More
Many very nice and loving homosexual male couples want to... Read More
Why are we over regulating the franchising industry? What are... Read More
We are destroying our freedoms and slowing innovation, due to... Read More
In today's Rants from Lance session I address the question... Read More
(1) Each person is to have an equal right to... Read More
"The only time I open my mouth is when I... Read More
The debate to raise minimum wage in California is totally... Read More
With people living longer we have some problems as those... Read More
The Randolphs:Peyton Randolph was the first President of the United... Read More
Revitalization Downtown projects are all the rage in fact the... Read More
Since the court case was over turned against Arthur Anderson... Read More
With the recent threats from Bin Laden and Al Queda... Read More
When I was growing up, I actually considered a career... Read More
I was dismayed to learn the other day, that my... Read More
The Federal Trade Commission in their latest move to increase... Read More
As a result of the conflict analysis exercise and a... Read More
The current field of political sciences is dominated by a... Read More
As of late steroid use in sports has been the... Read More
Here is an interesting thought; Corn to make Plastic An... Read More
Incompetence is all too obvious at the trade shows of... Read More
Political |