I am outraged at the Terri Schiavo media circus, but not for all of the same reasons most of my like-minded friends and family are. Of course, the fact that the PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS tried to get involved, Tom DeLay, Jeb Bush, et. al. all used it for personal political gain, the money and time wasted by the abuse of our court system, etc. does make me angry.
And that it is being reported that "The call is being echoed across talk radio and from many influential religious conservatives: Judges must favor protecting life, and failing that, their authority must be weakened. "It's going to be the impetus for hundreds of thousands of Americans to reform the judiciary," said Randall Terry, a veteran anti-abortion crusader."
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/11283789.htm
I am angry that a key part of this whole case is continually glossed over.
I asked my husband (who is very bright, well-read, and certainly has been subjected to the same bombardment about the Schiavo case as the rest of us) if he knew how Terri came to be in a persistent vegetative state. He didn't know, and guessed a car crash.
Terri's condition was a direct result of her bulimia.
One of the best articles that DOES focus on this is from The St. Petersberg Times Floridian, "The lost lesson of Terri Schiavo" By GARY D. FOX (Published October 26, 2003-Mr. Fox was the lead trial lawyer for Terri and Michael's malpractice case).
The article says (in part) "Terri suffered from an eating disorder known as bulimia nervosa, commonly called bulimia. The disease causes its victims to overeat ("binge") and soon thereafter vomit ("purge"). The cycle of binging and purging is extremely dangerous. The human heart, to work properly, requires a balance of the body's electrolytes. Vomiting can upset the electrolyte balance and cause abnormal heart rhythms that can lead to heart attack. That is what happened to Terri. One night, Terri purged, which caused her potassium level to drop low enough to cause a heart attack. Before fire rescue arrived and took her to the hospital, Terri's brain had been deprived of oxygen for long enough to produce catastrophic brain damage."
(to read the whole article:
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/10/26/Floridian/The_lost_lesson_of_Te.shtml
I do consider the death of Terri a tragedy. And this could be an opportunity to educate and elucidate the very real dangers involved with the obsession of being thin, explore the connection between that and the epidemic of childhood obesity, and perhaps start finding ways to help prevent both from happening.
According to Wikipedia, "Eating disorders have one of the highest death rates of all mental illnesses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulimia
But, of course, this part of the tragedy is not nearly as thrilling to those in the Red States who would instead prefer to take this opportunity to jam their right wing agenda down our throats. Any time that Randall Terry is involved, I know we're in for a disturbing ride.
