Re: Schiavo case will kill Republican Majority
The right to die issue is not an issue of values though for middle America. That's what's wrong with the way this whole thing came down.
As a people, we long ago accepted, in overwhelming majorities, that people can have a living will and express whether or not they wish to receive various medical procedures (including feeding tubes, ventilators, etc.). It is only a fringe minority who might not recognize that right to die. I am conservative and Republican and absolutely reject any notion that my wish not to be kept alive by ventilator or feeding tube if I am in a persistant vegitative state or irreversible coma can be disregarded.
The Schiavo case should not have been discussed in the context of the right to life. The issue is who, if anyone, has the right to make that decision for and on behalf of someone who did not express their intent in a written document before they became incompetent.
Had the fringe minority acted responsibly and framed the debate on the real issue, Terri Schiavo might still be alive and being fed today. I'm sure there are a lot of people like me who accept the right to die, accept the general rule that a husband should be the presumptive candidate to make this decision on behalf of an incompetent wife who failed to write a living will and yet heard enough facts to indicate that maybe Terri's husband should not have been the one to make this decision for her in this case. Unfortunately, reasoned and logical argument was drowned out by fringe groups wanting to talk about morals.