The autopsy on Terri Schiavo is finally out, and supprters of “husband” Michael Schiavo’s right to pull the feeding tube are claiming vindication. The coroner’s report said Terri’s brain had shrunk to half its expected size and that she was blind at the end of her life.
Not so fast. While Michael Schiavo may have been correct that Terri was in a PVS, pro-lifers were right to raise questions and to ask for medical tests while she was alive.
There were plenty of suspicious facts in this case. (1) Terri Schiavo left no written instructions but Michael suddenly remembered she said she wanted to die after he received a big malpractice verdict (a claim strongly disputed by her family); (2) Michael Schiavo set up housekeeping with another woman and yet continued to claim the rights of a husband to terminate Terri’s life; and (3) footage supplied by the family strongly indicated that Terri had some brain function and was not in a PVS.
So if this autopsy is accurate, Michael Schiavo could have done eveyone a favor and allowed some outside medical diagnosis while Terri was alive to answer these legitimate suspicions. He refused, fueling the controversy needlessly. Thus, we need to ponder not only the state of Terri’s brain, but Michael’s.
