Terri Schiavo & Human Nature

Terri Shiavo

Most of you probably have heard about Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who’s been on life support for over a decade full of legal battles between her husband and her family. Her husband claims that she asked not to be kept alive in such a condition, while her parents obviously oppose such a claim. Last week, the husband won a high court ruling permitting the husband to ask for the removal of her feeding tube. Her parents took the case to even higher courts and no luck so far. Shiavo is said to be in her final days dying from starvation and dehydration.

Human Nature .. or is it?

What stirred thoughts in my mind was the level of strength of natural family ties with respect to human nature. By natural ties I mean that every individual is supposed to have a natural guardian. When we’re kids, our parents were our guardians; when we’re married, our spouses are our guardians; when we become old, maybe our children become our guardians. I must emphasize that I’m not talking here about “legal guardians,” but actually natural guardians that are determined by human nature, not by laws.

I find it strikingly odd that the system is preventing two parents from keeping their child alive. Even though her husband is legally her guardian, I just find it against human nature. Can you imagine yourself in her parents’ position?

Remember Elian Gonzales?

Her case actually reminds me of Elian Gonzales, the little Cuban boy who fled Cuba with his mother on a boat that capsized before reaching the US coast. The mother died and Elian was rescued. He went through vicious legal battles between his mother’s family in the US and his father in Cuba a few years ago. Even though he was eventually reunited with his father, just the thought that the courts actually considered it is kind of counter-intuitive, or against human nature is a better expression. One must note that what the court was debating was his quality of life. Was he better off living with his mother’s family in the US or his father in Cuba? We’re not talking here about an abusive father. The issue with his father was .. well he’s a Cuban living in Cuba.

I understand there was a lot of politics involved in both cases, but I’m just thinking out loud about the human nature in family ties. Forget about all the political and legal garbage. Any thoughts?