Terri Schiavo - The end, then?

Well. That would appear to be that.

From the New York Times:

March 24, 2005

Supreme Court Rejects Request to Reinsert Feeding Tube

By ABBY GOODNOUGH and ADAM LIPTAK

CLEARWATER, Fla., March 23 - The Supreme Court today turned down a request by Terri Schiavo's parents for an emergency order to restore the Florida woman's feeding tube.

In a one-sentence notice, the court said the matter had been presented to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, and referred by him to the full court. But it offered no explanation as to why it was denied. The justices seldom elaborate when they turn down cases decided by lower courts.

The decision seems to exhaust the legal options for the parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, who have been fighting on many fronts against an order by a Florida state court last Friday to remove the feeding tube from their daughter, who doctors say has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years.

One thing is certain. At the end of their lives, Robert and Mary Schindler should go to their rest knowing that they did everything in their power to save their daughter. They could not restore her to the woman she had been. They could not keep her alive. In the end, all they could do was plead, and that is what they did. They left no legal stone unturned in their quest to prolong their child's life.

Aside from the unavoidable emotional element of the Schiavo tragedy, the question all along was whether it was right and proper to prolong her life. According to the entire state and federal judicial system of the United States, the answer was "no."

In stark contrast to the tragic heroism of the Schindlers stand the cynical machinations of the likes of Tom DeLay, Bill Frist and George W. Bush. It would be nice to think that these men were motivated solely by compassion for Terri Schiavo and her parents. The evidence does not allow such an assumption. The tangible evidence which casts doubt on the purity of their motives includes The Memo ("... a great political issue...") and The Speech:

"It is more than just Terri Schiavo. This is a critical issue for people in this position, and it is also a critical issue to fight that fight for life, whether it be euthanasia or abortion. I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, one thing God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America."

The circumstantial evidence includes the scores of executions over which Bush presided as governor of Texas. It also includes the Texas Advance Directives Act of 1999, a component of which is the right of health care providers to terminate life-support measures determined to be futile.

1) The family must be given written information concerning hospital policy on the ethics consultation process.

2) The family must be given 48 hours' notice and be invited to participate in the ethics consultation process.

3) The ethics consultation process must provide a written report to the family of the findings of the ethics review process.

4)If the ethics consultation process fails to resolve the dispute, the hospital, working with the family, must try to arrange transfer to another provider physician and institution who are willing to give the treatment requested by the family and refused by the current treatment team.

5) If after 10 days, no such provider can be found, the hospital and physician may unilaterally withhold or withdraw the therapy that has been determined to be futile (emphasis added).

6) The party who disagrees may appeal to the relevant state court and ask the judge to grant an extension of time before treatment is withdrawn. This extension is to be granted only if the judge determines that there is a reasonable likelihood of finding a willing provider of the disputed treatment if more time is granted.

7) If either the family does not seek an extension or the judge fails to grant one, futile treatment may be unilaterally withdrawn by the treatment team with immunity from civil or criminal prosecution (emphasis added). (This is the “legal safe harbor” for physicians, institutions, and ethics committees, the first of its kind in the country.)

Bush signed this measure into law. "Always err on the side of life," indeed, Mr. President.

But, all that aside, whether you agreed with them or not, the Schindlers fought the good fight and they should have no regrets about having done so. They did not win the race, but they finished it with heartbreaking determination. They did, literally, everything they could. Who would fault them?