Beppino Englaro no doubt felt he had the same rights. And since modern law school seems more focused on examining issues from every angle possible instead of helping to determine the ultimate moral good of right vs. wrong, he had allies in the process.
Until they met a minister of health who warned clinics operating under the control of his authority not to remove the feeding tube from the otherwise living human being.
In doing so the Ministry of Health stands in direct opposition to the Italian courts. But at present executive branch authorities are saying they will not intervene, thus the stand off.
But let's be clear, Eluana Englaro is not terminally ill, she does not have cancer, AIDS, or any other deteriorating condition, what she needs is food and hydration while doctors work to see if other improvement in her circumstances can be found. The exact same thing could be said of Terri Schindler. She was not ill, terminal, nor deteriorating. And medical opinion that Judge Greer disallowed into the record showed that Terri could make significant progress with recently improved upon techniques for rehabilitation.
In the years since Terri's death in 2005, Terri's family has continued the foundation they started as a mere support group to help save Terri's life.
Understanding the ways they were not able to get help from legal, medical, and other types of support until the very late stages of the legal battle was waged, they have determined to set about helping other families far earlier in the process. And it has come with better results. According to conservative estimates, Terri's Foundation has been called upon for some sort of help in over 500 cases since Terri's death in 2005.
It appears the need is beginning to increase significantly as well.
In Terri's case with the lack of a living will or an end of life directive that specifically addressed what Terri would like to see happen under certain circumstances, Terri's case was allowed to become a political football within the court system. Favors were cashed in, deals made, and in the end an innocent woman was starved and dehydrated.
Liberals claimed that had she had a written directive that the circumstances would have ended differently, and that she would be alive and happy today receiving the rehabilitation that at least two different doctors testified she would benefit from.
What Terri's Foundation is discovering however is that hospital "ethics boards" are now invoking authority in cases they deem "futile" often times by an anonymous vote. Such votes are overriding families wishes, but they are also overriding those same written directives. In dozens of cases Terri's Foundation has been able to make timely referrals to families with legal and medical professionals offering services, sometimes pro bono, and in dozens of cases the hospital ethics board is ultimately not willing to bravely continue to persist in starving another innocent victim.
Terri's Foundation even assisted as able in the Eluana Englaro case and in at least one more instance halted (for the time being) the march of death to someone who is innocent, not deteriorating, and not terminally ill.
In 2009 with the emergence of more boldness by the pro-death forces (both legal and medical) brainwashing the populations of states like Washington to adopt even more lenient laws on how a person's life may be taken--even in overriding their own written directives--Terri's Foundation is needed now more than ever.
Do me a favor and make one simple gesture of radical civil defiance--click here and make a donation to Terri's Foundation--their experience, expertise, and compassion for those who have no voice will only be in greater demand as "liberal think" swoops into every corner of society in 2009. Or call them and ask how you can be a set of boots on the ground for them in 2009 in your state to help push back against the forces of unfair, unjust, and unwarranted death. (727.490.7603... or e-mail info@terrisfight.org)
It won't bring Terri back.
But then again if we had government officials who would openly defy the cowardly judiciary in Terri's case, she would've never left us.
There is no way the Nobel association would recognize Italy's Minister of Health for his dramatic stance, but every person of clear conscience knows that what he has done is right.
And we don't need the sanction of tenure from law school to tell us so...