Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Compelling

Strange story in the morning paper I hadn't heard much about. Seems there's a "right to die" case down in Florida that's being compared to capital punishment, the war in Iraq, and all sorts of things.

But society asserts it has a compelling interest in continuing to execute (justice, deterrence, what have you). Iraq is a similar case.

What's missing for me in this whole thing is society's compelling interest in having Terri Schiavo die.

The facts about her condition are hard to discern, but she did not appear to be suffering. Even if she has the brain of a goldfish, I don't see the compelling need to pull her from her bowl and throw her to twitch and die on the floor. Where's PETA when you need them?

The law says this is supposed to be for her own good.

As Mr. Bumble observes in Oliver Twist: "If the law suppose that ... the law is a ass..."

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