Terri Schiavo | Imamother

proudmom

Thu, Apr 07 2005, 10:07 pm

The Unfathomable
By Rabbi Shea Hecht

Terri Schiavo was sentenced to death in Florida.

As a father, I am outraged that a man has the right to kill someone else's daughter.

As a human being, I am incensed that we allowed Terri, who harmed no one, to be starved to death.

As an American, I am flabbergasted that my country, which doesn't allow cruel and unusual punishment for those who commit crimes, punished Terri in such a cruel way when she committed no crime at all.

As a religious person, I am disturbed that, Michael Schiavo, a man who did not respect his wedding vows was allowed to err on the side of death with the very woman he was being unfaithful to.

As a Rabbi, I am horrified that Michael Schiavo gets to decide that Terri's body should be cremated when her parents want a proper burial.

As a law-abiding citizen, I question why a woman who did no crime received what amounts to capital punishment. If the courts felt she deserved it, perhaps they should have done it by lethal injection. That's quicker and more humane.

As a voter, I am outraged that some politicians did not feel it was important to vote on this issue of life and death.

As a humanist, I am saddened to see all the groups that stir up a ruckus when it concerns animal rights were silent when it came to the rights of a breathing human being.

As a health conscious person, I am puzzled why Terri was not given every test and treatment available - even experimental ones - to give her a fighting chance.

As a counselor for the terminally ill and their families, I wonder how the doctors could consider killing a person who is not terminally ill or dependent on life support.

As an advocate for justice, I am dumbfounded that in a life and death situation, experts knowledgeable in this case were not questioned - including Terri's nurses.

As a former Commissioner of Human Rights, I fail to understand why there wasn't a full investigation into Michael Schiavo's actions leading up to Terri's collapse - especially the fact that he could have helped her when she originally collapsed and didn't.

As someone who seeks medical treatment, I am troubled by the fact that the medical world was silent during this medical drama.

As someone who deals with businessmen, I am at a loss to understand why the insurance company that paid out a million dollars for Terri's ‘lifetime' care is not suing Michael Schiavo for their money.

As someone who is involved in politics, I am baffled why a governor who can give clemency to criminals didn't force the doctors to put the feeding tube back in.

As someone who's concerned about our country, I worry that one judge was able to make a life and death decision, with no subsequent reopening of the original case.

As someone who regularly works with prosecutors, I believe the judges who rendered decisions in this case should be questioned and investigated for aiding and abetting murder.

Ultimately, there is no part who I am that is not disturbed that a man can kill his wife - and get away with it.

Shea is chairman of the board of NCFJE ( National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education). He is a Rabbi and activist in the Jewish community.

To book a speaking engagement call 718-735-0223 or e-mail rabbishea@sheahecht.com

Tefila

Thu, Apr 07 2005, 10:46 pm

Thank-You Proud wow he said it all

proudmom

Fri, Apr 08 2005, 2:18 pm

If anyone is interested where I got this info from I got it from shmais.com.

supermom

Tue, Apr 12 2005, 3:02 pm

whoa proud it took all the feelings that I assume everyone has about this case and wrote it down. one thing that I think should be done is sue terri's so call husband!!!

Tefila

Tue, Apr 12 2005, 4:21 pm

Quote:

one thing that I think should be done is sue terri's so call husband!!!

Sue only, for being an accessory to murder shock

imprisonment more like!!

gryp

Tue, Apr 12 2005, 4:40 pm

actually I heard someone was arrested for trying to kill him.

supermom

Sun, Apr 17 2005, 2:12 pm

[quote="Motek"]thanks for that proudmom

Quote:

"Mrs. Hartman? Are you in pain?"

Eyes fixed on mine, her cracked lips mouthed the word, "Always."

I gulped and took a deep breath, "Is this what you want? Do you want to continue like this?"

I watched carefully, but her eyes had already begun to glaze. I screamed, "Mrs. Hartman! Mrs. Hartman!" trying to pull her back into this dimension. Like a child fighting sleep, her lids fluttered open again as she struggled to pay attention.

"Is this what you want?"

Very slowly, she nodded. I was shocked.

woah what a story it put chills down my spine thank you for the inspiration!!

Rivka

Sun, Apr 17 2005, 2:50 pm

That quote from Rabbi Hecht, he deffinately says it all. I think it is very assuming for people who have control over their limbs and can live like a normal human can decide that those who are not as fortunate don't like being the way they are.
Most of the time those that have serious illnesses do not want to die, they usually fight. If they didn't fight then there wouldn't be a point for any scientist trying to find cures for them because they would be dead anyway within a day of hearing their diagnosis.
Either Terri's death will be a lesson for future or it is a warning for us, showing what will happen in future generations.

Motek

Tue, Apr 26 2005, 2:33 pm

what a story - WHAT A DEVOTED HUSBAND!!!!!!!

http://www.aish.com/spirituali.....y.asp

Pearl

Wed, Apr 27 2005, 8:24 am

Motek, I just finished reading that story while visiting aish.com, and came here to post a link, when I saw you beat me to it!

Motek

Wed, Apr 27 2005, 10:47 am

great minds ... Smile

proudmom

Mon, Jul 04 2005, 7:11 am

Schiavo death was ‘murder,’ rabbi says

By JANICE ARNOLD
Staff Reporter

The court-ordered removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was “an act of murder,” in the opinion of Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, a member of the Lubavitch movement who spoke recently to a Montreal audience made up largely of lawyers.

Rabbi Yaffe, spiritual leader of Congregation Agudas Achim in West Hartford, Conn., and a popular lecturer on the Torah perspective on modern ethical issues, was a guest speaker at the Westmount Chabad centre.

The fact that Schiavo, who died in March almost two weeks after her gastric feeding tube was removed, was breathing on her own makes all the difference, Rabbi Yaffe said. Jewish tradition makes clear that nourishment must be provided under such a circumstance, even if the person has no chance of recovery or has severe brain damage, like the Florida woman.

The Talmud, he said, places the same value on the life of an 80-year-old comatose person as that of a healthy 20-year-old.

That these precepts were formulated thousands of years ago before technology spawned unforeseen ethical dilemmas in medicine is “totally irrelevant,” said Rabbi Yaffe. The themes and concepts of Judaism are as valid today as ever, he argued.

First of all, he said it should be remembered that those responsible for a gravely ill or incapacitated loved one are under tremendous stress. “It can become extremely seductive to create a narrative that accelerating that person’s demise is for their sake,” he said.

Judaism teaches that we don’t own our own lives and that our body is not our property, but is entrusted to us by God, and therefore we cannot destroy it, he said.

The Talmud forbids hastening death. “You are not even to close the person’s eyes before they have drawn their last breath,” he said.

“At the same time, you are not obliged to impede the dying process,” where there is “no chance of some semblance of functionality or relief of pain or suffering,” by, for example. placing the person on a respirator or trying experimental surgery.

That, however, does not extend to nourishment, which traditional Judaism views as providing the basic necessity of life.

“The fact that there was no tube-feeding in biblical times is irrelevant. We are obliged to feed those who are respirating autonomously,” Rabbi Yaffe said.

“We are obliged to provide nutrition. It’s an absolute right, and to remove it is extraordinarily problematic, just as removing a respirator is. You are literally taking life away.”

That remains true even if the person is in a persistent vegetative state, or brain dead, the rabbi said.

The only exception are those cases where feeding would “poison the system,” and then feeding must be stopped because it would only extend suffering, he added.

Rabbi Yaffe acknowledged there are differences of opinion among chassidic rabbis on what constitutes brain death, and whether it means cessation of brain-stem activity.

“The reality is it’s usually not that simple. If there is no autonomous respiration. we are probably not obliged to put the machine back on. It’s case by case. Every situation is a bit different.”

He stressed that Judaism holds that we cannot assign a value to any human life. “Does the life of a person in a vegetative state have value? Does a child with Down syndrome have value? It’s a slippery slope when we decide whose life has value.”

As recently as the 1950s, it was not uncommon for doctors to starve an extremely [crazy] newborn, a practice that we now are horrified by, he said.

“In Jewish law, a human life has an absolute value. Every human being is admitted to the bar of importance. Jewish law does not recognize subjective human criteria for the value of human life. Pain and suffering are part of life.

“If God chooses to place a soul in a body, then God is saying this person’s life has value. That we cannot see that is our limitation. We must treasure every life and not base its value on the person’s utility.”