The Question Not Asked
The L.A Times has a story today about two mothers with children in persistent vegetative states. One decided to let her child live; the other chose death for her child. The article portrays the Schiavo case as a simple choice between decisions made by families, and those made by strangers:
There is no one correct course, [Kaye] O’Bara says. It’s a private decision one a family must make on its own, with love.
[Shirley] Bradley feels the same. Watching politicians and protesters presume to know what’s best for Terri angers her. She would not have wanted a stranger to make the choice for Randy.
Neither claims to have made the right choice. Just the choice that was best for her child.
The implication is that the family in the Schiavo case made the decision, but now strangers are trying to interfere. Never mind that a stranger — Judge George Greer — has made all the decisions in the Schiavo case.
There is an obvious question that a reporter with no axe to grind would have asked these mothers:
Obviously, you feel very strongly that your decision for your child was right. But how would you feel if your child had been married, and your child’s spouse had disagreed with you? What if you didn’t trust your child’s spouse — but a judge agreed with the spouse’s decision?
I would love to hear these mothers answer this question.
I wonder why the L.A. Times didn’t ask it.
Yes, that was a rhetorical question.