Perhaps no one has more cause to be horrified by Terri’s story than Rom Houben and others like him. His incredible story of rebirth could easily have been a forgotten tragedy of silent suffering and death. After years and years of testing, it was only thanks to one final test, one last chance, that Rom Houben’s life was saved. A new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine this month confirms that there are, indeed, many others like Rom Houben - individuals deemed cognitively “extinct” whose humanity was vindicated at last.
In response to this new study Terri Schiavo’s brother, Bobby, laments the fact that his sister wasn’t permitted that one last test, questions the wisdom of standard “bedside” evaluations for brain activity and encourages other families facing these kinds of situations to ensure that their loved one is tested thoroughly before making irreversible life and death decisions:
“As in the case of my sister, they’re using this diagnosis as a criterion to kill. . . . Nobody should have to earn the right to hydration. We should do everything we can to care for these people, regardless of how responsive or unresponsive they are. . . . We are morally obligated to care for these people. They should stop any further dehydration deaths, because we’re learning how inaccurate the PVS diagnosis is.”
Thanks to the work of the physicians that conducted this new study, we now know that our idea of what it means to be in a persistent vegetative state may be radically inaccurate. It’s entirely possible that the “professionals” that passed judgment upon Terri were wrong in their assessment of her level of awareness. But even if they weren’t - even if Terri lacked conscious awareness - her handicap should not have resulted in the revocation of her membership in the human family.
As creatures created in God’s image, our “humanity” is unalterable, even though we are subject to change. Our humanity is not contingent upon our mental or physical fitness - at least, it shouldn’t be. We have worth, value and dignity - not because of our capacities or achievements - but because the Creator made us and gave Himself for us. Yet every day in America what it means to be human is being redefined according to ever-evolving, ever-narrowing “quality of life” criteria which treat the unborn, the elderly, and the infirm as little more than “resource hogs” or “lifestyle impediments.” More and more, these individuals’ right to exist is being assessed in light of “functional capacity studies” and “cost-benefit analyses.”
This utilitarian mindset was evident in the rationale of those who maintained that Terri’s poor prognosis, lack of awareness and inability to feel pain disqualified her from the right to basic nutrition and hydration. By their way of thinking, the only logical solution to the “problem” posed by her continued existence was to end it.
This utilitarian approach to life and death issues represents an impoverished view of humanity and poses a grave threat to the future of civilization - especially to the weak, the frail and the vulnerable. As human beings, our right to life should never be subject to a litmus test. Our net worth is far more than the sum of our assets and liabilities. Furthermore, we are obligated by our very humanity to care for the weak and frail among us.
If we live long enough, the day will likely come when each of us will rely on someone else to care for us. I, for one, hope that when that day comes, I live in a world that looks at me and sees a person, not a “problem.”