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Revelations of Moral Relevancy
Comments on the Schiavo Autopsy from Lutherans For Life
An autopsy reveals the cause of death and the
condition of the body and its component parts at the time of death.
The procedure is very systematic and the medical facts revealed are
very objective. Many have been anticipating the autopsy report of
Terri Schiavo, the brain damaged woman in Florida, who died 13 days
after her feeding tube was removed. What facts were revealed in this
autopsy? More importantly, which facts are morally relevant for the
Christian?
In summary, the autopsy revealed the
following:
-
It
appeared that Terri had not been physically abused.
-
Terri’s brain was severely damaged and had atrophied
significantly.
-
The brain damage was irreversible.
-
The vision centers of the brain were damaged and Terri was
probably blind.
The above are relevant facts and helped answer
some questions people had. But these are not the morally relevant
facts of the autopsy. The two morally relevant facts are these:
These facts reveal that Terri was not dying at
the time her feeding tube was removed. These facts reveal that the
removal of her feeding tube caused her to die. Terri did not die
from brain damage or an atrophied brain or blindness. She died
because the removal of her feeding tube no longer allowed her to
receive food and water. People do not like to hear it put this way,
but the facts reveal that Terri was not allowed to die—Terri was
killed. This is morally unacceptable for the Christian.
Certainly what happened to Terri was legal. No
murder charges will be filed. That is because food and water have
been legally defined as “medical treatment” that may be withdrawn.
Another way to look at this—again people do not like to hear it put
this way—is that we have reached a point in our society where
killing is an acceptable treatment. In the Schiavo case, killing was
seen as an acceptable treatment for someone who was severely
disabled. This is morally unacceptable for the Christian.
But some will say, “Wasn’t this an act of
caring and compassion?” We do not know what Michael Schiavo, Terri’s
husband, was feeling when he ordered the feeding tube removed.
Perhaps he did desire to end Terri’s “suffering” and saw his act as
an act of compassion. But what he was feeling is once again not
morally relevant. Some of the greatest atrocities in history have
been done in the name of “compassion.” Killing as a means of caring
is morally unacceptable for the Christian.
Certainly, it is morally acceptable to allow
the dying to die. When people are dying their bodily functions begin
to shut down. At this point, some treatments can do more harm than
good. Even food and water can be a problem if the body is no longer
able to process them. But to remove food and water from someone like
Terri, who the autopsy revealed was not dying when it was removed,
is not allowing someone to die, it is causing someone to die. It is
killing someone.
God calls Christians to uphold life and to
care for the sick and vulnerable. Our care is based upon the fact
that the sick and vulnerable are human beings created by God and for
whom Jesus Christ died. Our care is based upon the fact that they
are our “neighbor” in the Scriptural sense of the word (whom we are
to love as ourselves). People do not become less of a “neighbor” as
they become more ill. Indeed, the opposite is true. The more ill and
vulnerable people become, the more they need our love and care. The
vulnerable, those “least of these,” become Jesus to us and we become
Jesus to them as we care for them.
God calls Christians to uphold life and to
care for the sick and vulnerable. Our care is based upon the fact
that our wisdom is so puny compared to God’s. God, in His divine
wisdom, sets the time of a person’s death. God, in His divine power,
gives value, meaning, and purpose to an individual life as long as
He gives that individual life.
When you look at the morally relevant facts of
the Terri Schiavo autopsy, you realize that a great tragedy has
occurred, not only to Terri, but to all humanity because we have
accepted killing as a means of caring. Christ would have us care and
never kill.
Prepared by Lutherans For Life, June 20,
2005.
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