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March 24, 2005
Dred Scott lost
at the Supreme Court level with their decision that black Americans were property not people and that Scott had no standing to sue in the courts. It was a SCOTUS decision that shocked people out of complacency even as a great many other people applauded the decision as the courts keeping Congress from "intefering" with their rights to own "sub humans" as they saw fit.
Terri Schiavo may indeed die, losing her standing to review of the courts de novo of her case (something that happens in capital cases where trial court proceedings have been revealed as suspect), but maybe her death will stir the national conscience as Dred Scott's loss did.
Certainly the viciousness of the "Terri is a no more than a potted plant" crowd speaks to an almost defensiveness that must declare severely disabled people as "subhuman" and is disturbingly familiar.
Hugh Hewitt posts one of the very few new quotes from pro-eugenics Dr. Cranford, and it's not pretty. Rather than explain why he never did even the minimal medical standard for a PVS diagnosis, he's lashing out at even his medical critics as "religious fanatics." It's as if having any religious connection is an automatic dismissal of credibility.
Such people as Cranford would have us ignore the history of religion in America as being the moving force behind abolition and civil rights for those people considered less-than-human.
Posted by Darleen at March 24, 2005 06:30 AM
Comments
You're out of your mind.
Posted by: Ed at March 24, 2005 03:17 PM
My, that was a convincing argument.
My comparison speaks to the issue of "personhood." How do we define it? Who passes and who doesn't?
Terri wasn't dead, so the whole of the trial case dealt with her "personhood." If she didn't meet the threshold, then her guardian was free to feed her or starve her.
Scott didn't meet the threshold for "personhood" and thus he could never NOT be a slave.
Posted by: Darleen at March 24, 2005 03:26 PM