Terri Schiavo Chapter Summary

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Recommended: Personal beliefs in politics

Introduction As I read the book, I learned that Governor Bush’s goal was to have a limited, decentralized, and efficient government. However, some of his actions did not always contribute to this goal. Specifically, when Governor Bush expressed his ideas and, ultimately, intervened on the Terri Schiavo issue, his policy positions did not seem to accomplish the three goals Governor Bush set out to accomplish. Although I understand how he reconciles his views with his religious beliefs, it was difficult for me to understand how he reconciles his personal views with his duty as governor. Overall, it seemed as if this would have been more appropriate for the courts to handle as opposed to the Governor. His positions on this issue seemed as if …show more content…

It seemed that our opinions aligned in the Cuban case, but not the Schiavo case. When Governor Bush initially stated he would have someone look into the case (p. 196), I did not imagine him intervening at such a great magnitude. This is a delicate issue, and I could easily empathize with Schiavo’s family on this matter. At the same time, Schiavo consciously made the decision to marry her husband, so she may have wanted him to move on and be happy in the event that something happened to her. Furthermore, she may have expressed sentiments to her husband that she would not want to be left in a vegetative state, thereby supporting his reason to remove the feeding tubes. Since these ideas were not a far stretch for my imagination, I thought that it would be more appropriate for a court to grant both sides the opportunity to present their cases and evaluate the cases accordingly. Conversely, I did not think it was appropriate for the Governor to intervene, weighing the case in the family’s favor, without attempting to understand the other party’s

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