Rand Paul: “today in this Special Order I want to address two subjects, the first being the ordeal of Terri Schiavo and the…”

“today in this Special Order I want to address two subjects, the first being the ordeal of Terri Schiavo and the right-to-life issue. Mr. Speaker, clearly no one wins in the legal and political battles over the death of Terri Schiavo. Although it has been terribly politicized, a valuable debate has emerged. This debate is not about abortion or euthanasia in general, nor about death in the abstract. It is about an individual's right to life and the value of life itself. Without concern for the life of each, individual liberty is meaningless and indefensible. This debate deals with the passive treatment of the critically and terminally ill. This type of decision is manageable most of the time without government interference, but circumstances in this case made it difficult to determine proper guardianship. The unprecedented level of government involvement, questions about which branch of government had the ultimate say, and what the explicit intent of the patient was brought national attention to what was otherwise a family conflict. Terri Schiavo is a unique case, and, unfortunately, her fate ended up in the hands of the lawyers, the judges and the legislators. The media certainly did their part in disrupting her final days. In a free society, the doctor and the patient, or his or her designated spokesperson, make the decision, short of using violence, in dealing with death and dying issues. The government stays out of it.…”