It seems that for the Lay person, it is easy to be convinced that the removal of a PEG tube is potentially the equivalent to “murder”. Mrs. Schiavo is in Hospice care, and there are those who would prefer to vilify this hospice as doing misdeeds because it does not fall in line with their own personal and political agendas. We hear reports that the family is denied the ability to give ice chips and other nutrition to help comfort/prolong her life. I don’t know what the whole story is. I am convinced that we may not even know when we watch the TV movie of this crazy event.
But to classify the removal of a PEG tube as murder could change the face of Hospice care in America. This would criminalize the health care workers who bring comfort to our loved ones and ourselves in the end of days. America seems hung up on usurping individual freedoms and decisions, because some politicians believe they know what’s better for you and I.
So far, it looks as if the Justices have disallowed the political grandstanding to rue the day. Hopefully they (the politicians) won’t criminalize Hospice, there by forcing the doctors to make a decision about either putting the PEG tube back in, or face prosecution themselves. Of course this would the ability of people to die in dignity in America.
But let’s be honest, if Michael Schiavo really wanted to take care of this without all this political crap, he could have sought advanced medical attention in a country that doesn’t have all of these hang ups, then if nothing worked, requested to end the feeding tube.