Remember Terri on Nov. 6

Terri Schiavo

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."--John 10:10

I want you to look closely at the face of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo. Though severely disabled, she's responding to her mother's affection. That isn't the face of some human vegetable, unable to sense, feel, see, think or interact with other human beings.

Unfortunately, the state of Florida saw Terri differently up until the day she died on March 31, 2005. That state labeled Terri a human vegetable; unable to function properly as a human being and thus not worthy of life. You may remember the description an evil dictator named Adolf Hitler gave to people such as Terri during his reign of terror as Germany's chancellor during the 1930s and 40s; the Fuhrer labeled people such as Terri "useless eaters."

Terri wasn't always a vegetable or a useless eater in the eyes of the state of Florida. She was once a stunningly beautiful young woman who was employed as a clerk for an insurance company until she allegedly collapsed and went into full cardiac arrest on February 25, 1990 in her St. Petersburg, Fla. home. I say allegedly because there were rumors at the time that Terri's husband Michael may have attacked her during a violent argument, although that was never proven. What made some people suspicious about Terri's sudden cardiac arrest was the fact that she appeared to be in excellent health before she was stricken. During the time Terri's heart stopped beating, her brain was deprived of oxygen and she suffered permanent brain damage.

After several years of trying to rehabilitate Terri, Michael finally decided that she was beyond recovery. In 1998, he petitioned the state of Florida to remove Terri's feeding tube and allow her to die. Terri's parents fought vigorously against the action and a lengthy court battle ensued that finally ended on March 18, 2005 when Pinellas County Judge George Greer ordered Terri's feeding tube removed. Thirteen days later, Terri died of starvation and dehydration. Even more tragically, Terri's parents tried in vain to take legal custody away from Michael so they could save their daughter's life and care for her. 

But to no avail. There were suspicions that Michael stood to collect a significant inheritance from Terri's estate upon her death and therefore refused to relinquish custody of her. And there were suspicions that Michael, an uneducated restaurant manager, was exploited with a significant sum of money offered by euthanasia advocates looking for someone to help them promote their cause. While these and other suspicions abound concerning his strange refusal to relinquish his rights as Terri's guardian, nothing has ever been established. Some even suggested that Michael sought Terri's death because he feared that if she recovered, she might reveal what really happened on February 25, 1990.

What relevance does Terri Schiavo's death have to do with the Nov. 6 presidential election? This: If Barack Obama is reelected, then Obamacare becomes a permanent law. And that law mandates that a board of 15 government bureaucrats (Independent Payment Advisory Board) will eventually have the power to decide who gets medical treatment and who doesn't under a government-provided healthcare system. Under Obamacare, private health insurance will become too costly for many people, forcing them to settle for the government's healthcare program. Remember, if they don't, they will be punished by the IRS with a heavy fine. And as more people leave private insurers, these companies will go out of business leaving the U.S. government as the only healthcare provider.

And that will lead to more heartbreaking situations such as the one that killed Terri Schiavo. Imagine a bureaucratic panel that possesses the power to decide who lives and who doesn't. Imagine someone who's fully capable of living and surviving with just basic medication, being denied that medication because they are too old, too infirm, or even worse--having the wrong religious beliefs or political affiliation. Does that sound paranoid and farfetched? 

If Barack Obama is reelected, that figures to become a nightmarish reality. And so, when you enter the voting booth tomorrow, remember Terri Schiavo.