Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Hypocrites
The case of Terry Schiavo provides some important lessons. The “liberal press” ignores the fact that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that gave hospitals (not the patient or the family) the right to remove life support if the patient is unable to pay and with no hope of revival, regardless of the patient's or family's wishes. That law was used last week in a Catholic hospital in Houston but is now under court review.
Congressional Republicans voted to cut Medicaid funding that pays for the kind of care provided to Terry Schiavo and needed by many others who are not so severely brain damaged.
The Republican tort reform bill before Congress would disallow malpractice claims like that which has paid for Terry Schiavo's care.
The bankruptcy bill will make it even more difficult for families who suffer a catastrophic illness like that of Terry Schiavo.
The Congressional theater is intended to appease the religious right. The calls to protect her life completely ignore her desire to avoid the condition she now endures.
We see a spectacle on television in which the news anchors repeatedly say that the Congress is "stepping in to save Terry Schiavo" or “saving” her, mimicking Tom “Ethically Challenged” Delay as they nod sympathetically at the sanctimonious play-actors who abuse this issue for political gain.
Hypocrites all.
