Sunday, April 10, 2005

Terri Schiavo case inspires legislation

Interesting article: Terri Schiavo's Legacy

In the emotional and political rush to propose legislative solutions, I think more people need to read this article, and carefully consider the following excerpt:

However, Kenneth W. Goodman, director of the bioethics program at the University of Miami, says the proposals are "preposterous" and "wouldn't work."

"End-of-life legislation can always be improved, but [changes] must be deliberate, incremental and cautious," he said, adding that it's a "bad idea to tinker with state or federal law" based on circumstances in one case.

"But for this weird [Schiavo] case," where her husband and parents fought over removing her tube for seven years, "we would have done just fine in Florida and everywhere else" with existing law, said Mr. Goodman, who is also co-director of the Florida Bioethics Network, a group of ethicists that consults with hospitals about end-of-life care.

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