I object to Robert P. George’s assertion (“Culture of Death,” 7/26/2025) that Terri Schiavo died because “her husband regarded her life as not worth living.” Mr. George mischaracterizes both Terri’s condition and her husband’s motivation. I followed this story closely, both in the news and in Michael Schiavo’s memoir. Here is a summary of facts, as far as I recall (or can check on Wikipedia).
At the age of 26, Schiavo suffered a cardiac arrest which left her comatose, with severe brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. After two and a half months without improvement, her diagnosis was changed to “persistent vegetative state.” Future examinations confirmed this diagnosis.
For almost 15 years, Terri’s husband, Michael, supervised her care and tried every possible treatment to improve her condition. One nurse reported that he was such a good — if annoying — advocate, Terri never had a bedsore. Michael Schiavo petitioned to remove her feeding tube only after a neurologist told him she had lost all higher functioning. Her scans showed that much of her brain tissue had been destroyed and the cavity had filled up with spinal fluid.
The case went to court when Terri’s parents objected to their son-in-law’s decision. The involvement of well-meaning or ignorant politicians only prolonged everyone’s suffering. The judge finally made the right call and allowed Terri’s husband to exercise his right to act on her behalf. Michael could have divorced her and walked away, thus avoiding all this stress. But if his wife had become a ward of the state, her prospects would probably have been grim.
Refusing to keep a vegetative or brain-dead patient on life support is NOT euthanasia, and it certainly is not “assisted suicide.” It is simply allowing that person to die a natural death. In fact, many religious groups, including certain orders of Catholic nuns, believe it is wrong to interfere with the natural process of death.
Beth Woodbury Hart
Puyallup, Washington