Terri Schiavo

Terri Schiavo. I have some questions about this situation.

Is a human being less of a human being when the brain becomes damaged? Conversely, are you more human, the more your brain capacity? If this is the case than those who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders are less human. Any of us who slowly lose our memory are becoming less human as we age. Am I “Dana” now, but become less “Dana” as my brain function declines in some ways, as I get older? Do you constitute my being by my memories? Can you decide to starve me to death because I am losing my humanity? At what point do you decide?

Terri Schiavo is not about a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order. Taking extraordinary measures to keep a heart pumping. This is about starving her to death because she cannot eat on her own. But, I spent a good part of my early days not being able to feed myself. At least my mom and dad would tell you that. When I was an infant, did that fact make be less human? When we assist people who are paralyzed to eat, are they less human, as well?

Taken to the extreme, where does IQ and ability to “increase” brain capacity fit in to all of this? Am I more superior than someone else because I have better use of my faculties? Should there be an IQ test requirement before I am allowed to vote?

I think the answer to all these questions is you are a human being or you are not. The questions become more difficult when we consider that our mind is more than our brain. The research of patients who are “brain dead,” not registering any brain activity, reviving and then clearly speaking of the things that were happening around them clouds the picture even more. And everybody keeps using the phrase “vegetative” state, and such, and I don’t know how you really can accurately make that statement.

If you can’t communicate clearly with a human does that make them no longer human? Then does that make me more human if I can communicate “better” than you? Is someone who “communicates” for a living, like an effective preacher, a higher order human than someone who does not?

More questions tomorrow.