the Schiavo’s case opens up a can of worms that present society has to deal with. ranging from Euthanasia, separation of powers between the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government, separation between church and state, as well as who is the rightful legal guardian when you are unable to discharge your wish.
in this post i would focus on the last issue.
by legal standing, your legal guardian is the person whom you chose to live with for the rest of your life through marriage. so when there are situations like in Schiavo’s case, where you cannot express your wish, your spouse will have the legal capacity to instruct lawyer, doctors, trustee, or anyone for that matter, to convey what s/he wish to be done unto you. the question is, what if that person makes the wrong choice, clearly in violation to yours. now, obviously im not going to make assumption as to what is considered right or wrong. because even we ourselves often make wrong choices in life.
however, what happens when your parents have different understanding on what you want in comparison with your spouse. who is right and who is wrong.
the million dollar question is, “whom would you choose to exercise your right when you are unable to do so? Your parents or your spouse?”
Doug already helped me answer this question from his perspective: “Of course your spouse, afterall, you dont choose your parents but you choose whom your spouse is”
but when it comes to ‘death’, will your choice differs? Shouldn’t we err on the side of life, regardless of who is the legal guardian? After all, history has been telling us, that the only promised thing in life is death.
Whats your take?