Terri Schiavo

^{Wesley J. Smith
March 28, 2023
Human Exceptionalism}

Terri Schiavo Case Was a Culture-of-Death Tipping Point

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 28, 2023
Human Exceptionalism}

The court-ordered death of Terri Schiavo was an ominous cultural tipping point. The legal case began when Terri’s husband Michael Schiavo applied to remove the feeding tube from his profoundly cognitively disabled wife so that she would die by dehydration. When Terri’s parents Bob and Mary Schindler, joined by her siblings Bobby and Suzanne, fought the plan in court, profoundly important cultural and legal battle lines were drawn that were destined to change the country. Read More ›

^{Wesley J. Smith
November 1, 2013
Human Exceptionalism}

The V-Word Is as Bad as the N-Word

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 1, 2013
Human Exceptionalism}

Using the word “vegetable” to describe people with a cognitive disability or impairment is profoundly dehumanizing. Read More ›

^{Wesley J. Smith
April 17, 2012
Human Exceptionalism}

That Unrepentant Bigotry

_{Wesley J. Smith
April 17, 2012
Human Exceptionalism}

“Stop the hate!” we are often told. To be sure, that is a worthy goal. Indeed, in recent decades great strides have been made throughout society in accepting most of us, as indeed, truly and clearly, “us.” For example, the worst forms of racist speech are now far beyond the pale—to the extent that the despicable N-word can no longer Read More ›

close up of saline on hand of sick girl lying on bed at hospital. Selective focus at finger.

^{Wesley J. Smith
November 13, 2003
Human Exceptionalism}

A “Painless” Death?

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 13, 2003
Human Exceptionalism}

MANY WHO SUPPORT Terri Schiavo’s threatened dehydration assert that removing a feeding tube from a profoundly cognitively disabled person results in a painless and gentle ending. But is this really true? After all, it would be agonizing if you or I were locked in a room for two weeks and deprived of all food and water. So, why should we Read More ›

^{Wesley J. Smith
October 21, 2003
Human Exceptionalism}

Saving Terri Schiavo

_{Wesley J. Smith
October 21, 2003
Human Exceptionalism}

WHEN TERRI SCHIAVO collapsed in 1990, causes unknown, she could have had no idea that 13 years later people the world over would know her name and care very much about whether she lived or died. Yet what began as a private tragedy—a vivacious young woman stricken in the very prime of her life with a brain injury that left Read More ›