Painting a very different picture from that told by her parents, pro-death attorney George Felos described Terri Schiavo’s appearance as “very peaceful, the most beautiful since I’ve known her” (paraphrased). I’m sorry, but death, no matter how it comes, is not “beautiful.”

But that kind of propaganda is to be expected from Felos who is the leading proponent of assisted suicide in the U.S. legal profession. Painting images very different from their actual appearance is his specialty.

Consider, judicial independence is vital to our system of justice in the United States. Yet it has been reported that last year, the day following a favorable ruling for Michael Schiavo, Judge Greer received a $250 donation for his re-election campaign from Felos. The amount is not important, the appearance of quid pro quo and conflict of interest is. Was there a duplicitous move to influence the “independent judiciary.”

There are so many questions swirling around this case, questions that should cause the judiciary to pause and at a minimum become dubious of the claims of Felos and Schiavo.

Yet, the greater question is what is happening in our country? What has happened to us that we are running headlong down the path of death for the convenience of the living?

Argue how you may, of the 46 million abortions reported in America since 1973, the vast majority were not for medical reasons. The primary reasons given for these abortions amount to personal convenience

The reasons given for abortion are as follows:

Social Reasons (given as primary reason)
- Feels unready for responsibility 21%
- Feels she can't afford baby 21%
- Concern for how baby would change her life 16%
- Relationship problem 12%
- Feels she isn't mature enough 11%
- Has all the children she wants 8%
- Other reasons 4-5%
TOTAL: 93%
"Hard Cases" (given as primary reason)
- Mother's Health 3%
- Baby may have health problem 3%
- Rape or Incest 1%
TOTAL: 7%

From National Right to Life

Fully 93% of abortions are for matters of social convenience, not medical issues or rape/incest as the pro-abortion lobby consistently touts as the reason abortion should be easy and legal. Consider that the reason given, “Baby may have health problem” is based on what “may” be and the underlying difficulties and inconvenience of caring for a sick or disabled child, and the “Social Reasons” category can be reasonably increased to 96%.

That is, 3600 abortions per day in 2004, or every day more than twice the total number of American casualties since the beginning of the Iraq war are killed in the abortion mills of the United States. The liberals wail over the former while demanding that the American taxpayer, including those who find abortion morally wrong, pay for abortion on demand.

Now the battle line is shifting to include physician assisted suicide and euthanasia, two closely related but distinctly different acts. While the generalities of the Schiavo case may be closer to the act of allowing nature to take its course, the specifics paint a different picture. In that Schiavo does not specifically qualify as physician assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia, it is an early skirmish on the field of battle that will surely lead to more of these types of situations.

Do not be deceived; while those proponents of PAS and euthanasia speak passionately to the dignity of the individual, mercy and so on, the deeper reasons are both societal and economic.

It is painful to watch a loved on ravaged by disease, to see their bodies waste away, the vibrant spark of life slowly diminish as they edge towards death’s door. It is never easy, for some it is impossible. While advocates often speak of easing the pain of the dying, they also want to end their own pain.

Consider the concept of a funeral. They are not for the deceased. While we speak of honoring them, of paying a final tribute and honor to those who have passed on, the real purpose of the funeral is to help ourselves in dealing with the pain of loss. The dead don’t care, they’re not crying. It’s us, the living.

In the same way PAS and euthanasia are a palliative solution to the pain of the friends, family and caretakers of the injured, diseased and dying. It speeds the process so we can move on with our lives.

Consider Michael Schiavo. What are his stated plans when Terri dies? To marry his 10 year live in lover.

What about economics? This was brought home to me today as I discussed Schiavo with a co-worker. His arguments ran to the waste of money being spent on keeping her alive and to the financial ability of her parents and siblings to care for her were they to receive custody.

The cost of care in the final year of life comprises 18% of lifetime medical costs, 30% of Medicare expenditures. With the increasing pressures on hospitals, insurance companies and government medical programs to reign in costs, the availability of end-of-life care is certainly to become a much-debated issue while PAS and euthanasia will become viewed as a solution.

Listen to the current debate and you will hear these and other reasons given to “pull the tube” and get on with it.

The bottom line is that abortion and PAS/euthanasia are bound together in the politics and ethics of the culture of death in America. To acknowledge one as morally wrong inherently weakens the arguments for the other. Thus you will not find a pro-life/pro-euthanasia advocate or a pro-abortion/anti-euthanasia apologist.

Both abortion and PAS/euthanasia find their foundation in the social self-centeredness of our society. They reflect the focus of the “me” society where the important things of life do not include sacrifice, delayed gratification and giving of one’s self to others.


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