Erring on the Side of Life

Here's a dilemma.

There is one party who wants to end the life of a brain-damaged woman. She is definitely handicapped. She probably won't have a normal life. Some doctors say she will never have a chance at real recovery. She will have to be fed via a tube at taxpayer's expense possibly indefinitely. She should die, they say.

There is another party of people who genuinely love her and want to take care of her. They have been told by reputable doctors who have examined her that there is a real hope of some recovery. Whether there is or not, the group of people are willing to help her try it. They say there is no evidence that she is suffering. They say she had never previously expressed a desire to die should she be in this situation. They say she should live.

What should you do?

Maybe this analogy will help. You have to demolish a building. The explosives are set. The contractors want this thing down now. Suddenly, just as you are about to destroy the building, a fellow worker screams out, "Stop! I see movement in the building. Stop!" But you thoroughly checked the building! There was no one there. What do you do? Do you light the charge? Or, now that there is a genuine doubt from a trusted colleague, do you go back and check it all over again?

I go back and check.

It's a pretty easy call with that building. Why is it so difficult with Terri Schiavo?