He Can't Just Walk Away
Things don't look too good for Terri Schiavo right now. The judge in her case has refused to give the Florida Department of Children and Families more time to investigate allegations of abuse against her husband Michael.
Meanwhile, a wealthy businessman unconnected to Terri's parents has offered Michael $1,000,000 to give up guardianship over his wife.
The offer will almost certainly be refused.
I think the million-dollar offer, like the earlier effort of Terri's parents to get him to divorce her and "just walk away", are doomed to failure, because the fundamentally misconceives Michael's position.
He's not arguing that Terri's feeding tube be removed because he finds it degrading, or inconvenient, or expensive. His public position (and, for all I know, his subjective belief) is that this isn't about what Michael Schiavo wants. It's about what Terri Schiavo would have wanted.
Everything he's done has been premised on the fact that Terri didn't want to live in her current state, that she expressed as much to him, and that, as her guardian, he's simply carrying out her wishes.
That position leaves him no room to simply "walk away", either out of sympathy for her parents or for a big cash payout.
Say he took the money. What would that mean? It might mean that Michael Schiavo is a mercenary, willing to sell his wife into a lifetime of suffering against her specific request, for a big wad of cash. Or it could mean that there was no specific request, that his decade-long fight to remove the tube was based on his own wishes rather than those of his wife, that he's a fraud and an attempted murderer. I just can't see another option, can't see how me makes "Terri wouldn't have wanted to live this way, but man that's a lot of money" into a coherent and believable argument.
Michael Schiavo is locked into his current position, trapped by the arguments that got him there. There's no way out, even if he wanted one. Neither money, nor sympathy for her parents can provide one.
Meanwhile, a wealthy businessman unconnected to Terri's parents has offered Michael $1,000,000 to give up guardianship over his wife.
The offer will almost certainly be refused.
I think the million-dollar offer, like the earlier effort of Terri's parents to get him to divorce her and "just walk away", are doomed to failure, because the fundamentally misconceives Michael's position.
He's not arguing that Terri's feeding tube be removed because he finds it degrading, or inconvenient, or expensive. His public position (and, for all I know, his subjective belief) is that this isn't about what Michael Schiavo wants. It's about what Terri Schiavo would have wanted.
Everything he's done has been premised on the fact that Terri didn't want to live in her current state, that she expressed as much to him, and that, as her guardian, he's simply carrying out her wishes.
That position leaves him no room to simply "walk away", either out of sympathy for her parents or for a big cash payout.
Say he took the money. What would that mean? It might mean that Michael Schiavo is a mercenary, willing to sell his wife into a lifetime of suffering against her specific request, for a big wad of cash. Or it could mean that there was no specific request, that his decade-long fight to remove the tube was based on his own wishes rather than those of his wife, that he's a fraud and an attempted murderer. I just can't see another option, can't see how me makes "Terri wouldn't have wanted to live this way, but man that's a lot of money" into a coherent and believable argument.
Michael Schiavo is locked into his current position, trapped by the arguments that got him there. There's no way out, even if he wanted one. Neither money, nor sympathy for her parents can provide one.
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