'more than private concern'

If you will just tolorate another post on Terri Schiavo, I will point you to an impressive Slate article I just came across by Harriet McBryde Johnson. I would rather be moving on to other topics, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that just because Terri has passed on so tragically, doesn't mean I have to let the issue drop. I've already been guilty of letting many things pass that could have been shared.

It's literally been about two years since I read anything on Slate. I must have had an early bad experience. There was one terrific line I read in this article that took my fancy. If you read the full piece you will discover the interesting fact that the author is facing the possibility of a feeding tube in the near future. At least keep that in mind when you read this paragraph:

I hope against hope that I will never be one of those people in the shadows, that I will always, one way or another, be able to make my wishes known. I hope that I will not outlive my usefulness or my capacity (at least occasionally) to amuse the people around me. But if it happens otherwise, I hope whoever is appointed to speak for me will be subject to legal constraints. Even if my guardian thinks I'd be better off dead—even if I think so myself—I hope to live and die in a world that recognizes that killing, even of people with the most severe disabilities, is a matter of more than private concern.

(emphasis mine)

Powerful to say the least. Again, if you read the whole piece, she provides an even better context.

Crossposted at Meneltarma