Linda Chavez eloquently makes the point about the killing of Terri Schiavo, as I did this week in the Daily Mail (see Articles) -- that she is being killed, not 'allowed to die'. As Chavez asks:

'We have been down this road before when we bought and sold Africans and their progeny as mere "property" and when our courts determined that the unborn are not persons unless their mothers choose to carry them to term. Now we seem on the verge of declaring -- de facto -- that the severely mentally deficient are not persons either. Who will be next -- the gay man suffering from AIDS-related dementia, the Alzheimer's patient who cannot feed herself, the infant with cerebral palsy or spina bifida or hydrocephalus? Will we suddenly find it convenient -- even merciful -- to let such people starve?'

In Britain, the answer to that question is yes; and the Mental Capacity Bill which is about to go through its final stages in Parliament is bringing about exactly that.

Posted by melanie at March 31, 2005