Political Bloviation

Michelle Malkin » Memo to ABC, NYTimes: Terri Schiavo was not “brain dead”

I have a category for posts related to Terri Schiavo. I have followed the coverage of the case, read most of the court transcripts and the autopsy report. Her autopsy shows that her visual cortex was missing. I makes it a little more difficult to believe the video made by Terri’s parents showing what looks like her tracking a balloon. She lacked the hardware to process visual images, much less react in a purposeful way. She exhibited random non-purposeful movements that her parents interpreted as interaction. It’s sad but not informative to a discussion of the public policy implications end of life choices.

Malkin is being lazy and parroting the parents view of the situation. The case was the subject of intense judicial scrutiny by 9 different courts. All found that Terri would not have wanted to live in a persistent vegetative state (I don’t believe any expert ever said brain dead). It wasn’t just Michael Schiavo’s word against the wishes of the parents or some kind of rampant judicial activism. It was the considered opinion of a variety of credible expert witnesses. The Schindler family was supported by an assortment of self aggrandizing quacks, political opportunists and assorted hacks. Malkin ought to read the material before jumping in.