Should the disability rights movement be involved in the Schiavo case?

[KamaAina]

that's Terri Schindler-Schiavo, the woman in Florida who needs the feeding tube.

At issue is that the loudest voices on Terri's behalf have been those of the religious right, and fellow travelers like WorldNetDaily. This rankles those of us who view the disability rights movement as part of a larger progressive movement.

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/extra/schiavodisrights.html

Byzek, like Toy, worries that disability activists appear to have aligned themselves with the "rightwing, Christian pro-life movement."

John Kelly, a Not Dead Yet member from Boston, notes that Toy made a similar argument in an article in an article in the Nov 1999 issue of New Mobility. "In making the anti-assisted suicide -- and by extension, anti-abortion -- arguments one of our community's main rallying points," Toy had written, "we find ourselves aligned with factions of the right wing who are all too happy to trample any number of other constitutional protections into the ground. We become tools of those who turn their backs on the progressive measures we need to maintain an equal footing in society...."

Aligning with the religious right would be a mistake; says Byzek; the disability rights movement should be making the case that opposition to assisted suicide must be a progressive civil rights issue. "If the disability rights movement stays ensconced within the progressive movement for civil rights -- except for advocates against physician-assisted suicide --- then we will over time develop two separate movements with two separate ideologies," she worries. "As a lesbian, I will never feel comfortable giving time or energy to any movement that accepts support from the right wing, which works diligently to keep me from having basic civil rights -- and in fact creates social situations that literally cause the deaths of many gays and lesbians--ironically, mostly by suicide."

And yet, those doggone anti's are out there fighting for Terri's life, while liberals wring their hands about "death with dignity". What to do? Actually, I suspect that the anti's don't give a hoot about Terri per se; they're just using her case to score points in the abortion battle.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. I am a member of DisabledVotersforDean group

and the thinking is that since Schiavo is not a "live" human being, i.e., brain stem dysfunction, is not disabled, but rather a body that is being sustained by artificial means. The argument is that since she has no brain function other than the brain stem, she can't really be considered disabled. She is literally dead to the world, thus the need to remove her feeding tube and leave her to die naturally.

Here's Mr. Toy's take on this:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DisabledVotersforDean/message/269

Hawkeye-X

[maha]

4. Sensible

I couldn't read the article because I don't have the honor of being a Disabled Voter for Dean. However, I agree with what you say.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

2. i find it ridiculous

that the only way to allow this lady to die a dignified death is by starvation. It is a brilliant way to make people who are actually rational come across as Satanic murderers. By removing all options that would allow for humane passage into the hereafter, the RW forces people into removing feeding tubes as the only way. Unbelievable and unforgivable. If there is a hell these people who politicize this stuff belong there.

[madrchsod]

3. the village voice

has an article about the injuries that caused her present state..could it be attempted murder? inquiring minds would like to find out....
<http://www.villagevoice.com>-under highlights