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Right-to-life
hypocrisy rampant in White House
The
courts decided that Terri Schiavo's feeding
tube should be removed. Congress and the
president intervened to get the case into
federal court.
President
George W. Bush wanted to "err on the
side of life." House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay accused Schiavo's husband of "medical
terrorism." Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist, a heart surgeon, made a medical
diagnosis from the Capitol, saying Schiavo's
condition was misdiagnosed.
We
all know the country's leadership is grandstanding.
Schiavo suffered a heart attack in 1990,
which stopped the oxygen supply to her brain.
Her cerebral cortex, necessary for higher
brain function, was mostly replaced by spinal
fluid. The chance of her recovering any
higher brain function was zero.
The
president, for the first time (even terror
alerts and war never rose to this importance),
interrupted his vacation to sign Congress'
bill to send Schiavo's case to federal court.
Bush
and DeLay are from Texas. This is critical
because in 1999 then-governor Bush signed
a law called the "Texas Futile Care
Law." Under that law hospitals have
the right to withdraw life support if a
patient has no chance of recovery. The law
has been used to let patients die against
the wishes of their families.
Meanwhile,
the Republican leadership has also decided
to cut medical expenditures in the upcoming
federal budget.
The
House just passed a budget resolution that
would eliminate $20 billion over five years
from Medicaid.
Medicare
is another large program that faces cuts
in benefits. Medical care is a huge burden
on much of the population. As reported in
February by Health Affairs, about 55 percent
of all personal bankruptcies are related
to medical emergencies (75 percent of the
55 percent have health insurance).
Further
frustrating my sense of their responsibilities,
the liberal media says nothing about this
contradictory posture. The people who run
the government get to have their cake and
eat it, too. They want to provide futile
care to satisfy the base. But the consciously
living have to do with less.
Any
genuinely pro-life person would resist any
attempts to make it harder for families
to provide proper care.
For
DeLay, though, the Schiavo case is great
propaganda. He said that God brought them
Schiavo to illustrate how barbaric America
really is for starving "a person that
is lucid." He further said, "[T]his
is a huge nationwide concerted effort to
destroy everything we believe in."
Besides
the lie of Schiavo being lucid, the lie
of the nationwide effort should not convince
anyone. The liberal media even here in liberal
California has made virtually no effort
to inform audiences of Schiavo's medical
condition.
Given
the contradictory words and actions on the
value of life one does not have to wonder
what the motives of the Republican leadership
are. Conservatives are looking for issues
to energize their base. Once energized,
it is much easier to get the base to vote
against their economic interests. And misleading
the public is just part of the game.
Yet,
at least on this issue the manipulation
was too obvious for the public. Less than
20 percent of Americans believe Congress
acted to help Schiavo. And aside from Bush's
manipulation, this case may have exposed
DeLay and his ugly politics to a large enough
audience. If the public finally pays attention
we may be able to prevent real harm.
Wolf
Thiele is a single subject teaching credential
student at CSULB.
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