Feeding tube:
Not considered extraordinary medical procedure

	Guest commentary  Anne Elizabeth Rookey  Middleton, Wis.

Editor's note: This is a response to the mailbag letter by Robert Toomey published in the April 28th issue of the Catholic Herald.

May God bless Bob and Mary, the parents of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, and Bobbie and Suzanne, her brother and sister, for all that they have suffered and endured during the past years and still do now for the hideous way Terri was treated.

Rehabilitation possible

First of all, numerous testimonies from nurses and doctors have said that Terri could have and should have been rehabilitated. But Michael (Terri's husband) ruthlessly did not allow her this basic need.

She could have been taught to speak again - she did, in fact, say "Mommy" to her mom many times. She could have been taught to feed herself. But now we'll never know, will we?

In fact, she was able to eat jello, one of her nurses said. This nurse also noticed Terri trying to drink water from the shower head while giving her a bath. She therefore would give her small cups of water which she drank. Then Michael found out about it and stopped that.

	Related items from this week's edition: Bishop Speaks page: • Lawyers, officials: Called to be ministers of justice, truth Editorial: • Food, water: Remember pope's words Mailbag/Letters: • Sick, handicapped deserve respect • Direct euthanasia unacceptable

Secondly, Michael was already living with another woman for over 10 years with whom he had two children. So he was not really her husband anymore. He was an adulterer.

Sanctity of human life

America is losing all understanding of the meaning of the sanctity of human life. Even our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, said what was happening to Terri was gravely evil.

Pope John Paul II said regarding Terri that "to have a feeding tube is not an extraordinary medical procedure." Even he had to be fed through a feeding tube before he died.

Many people have to be fed through a feeding tube and can still lead meaningful lives. The point is, Terri could have been rehabilitated and she was not allowed. Does this sound like a loving husband? I don't think so.

Terri's parents and siblings loved her very much. Terri was so happy whenever she was with them. Even though she was never allowed to leave her room for five years, she would smile brilliantly when her mother came to visit.

Terri had a gentleness and purity about her which few people have because of what she suffered. It's easy for those who wanted her dead to say that she didn't suffer, because they themselves didn't suffer. They were so full of coldness and hatred that they wouldn't suffer.

Yet Terri and all who truly cared about her did suffer because they were filled with love. Her parents and siblings wanted to take care of her and should have been allowed to do so.

Judicial tyranny

Finally, this case is a prime example of judicial tyranny in America. Only one judge had total power to decide the case.

Congress could have stopped it. Constitutionally they do have the power. But they didn't stop it. An entire nation sat back and watched an innocent woman be starved to death.

Hopefully our prayers consoled her. I'm sure she went straight to heaven. But what they did to her was very wrong.