"you who philosophize disgrace..."
(Bob Dylan, The Ballad of Hattie Carroll)
In a land of plenty,
a woman is condemned to die
slowly, agonisingly
as organs dehydrate and fail;
exposed to public scrutiny,
unable to protest
at being starved to death
by those replete with callousness.
In a land of wealth and opportunity,
the courts decree
that this life is now worthless,
an expendable commodity.
In accord with their compassion,
justice and a sense of mercy,
she must starve with dignity,
but forcibly, at their behest.
That she is still alive to love
is immaterial;
that she is loved
and in God's eyes is meaningful
counts even less.
In a land of liberty
whose god would count
this life as blessed,
she dies with grace
her judges and the courts
do not possess.
God who on her suffering
bestowed such peace and tenderness,
why do those endowed
with health and privilege
transgress?
What accommodation
do they make with their paralysis,
which renders them insensate -
dead to faith and hope and charity?
i.m. Terry Schaivo...