In an extremely stark view on end of life autonomy, actor Kevin James argues
that only God should determine one of the person's life ends. Criticize some by
his anti choice stance, James's position challenges evolving norms in the society that increasingly
values individual decision making and end of life matters. The complexities of life support,
the concept of quality of life, and compassionate choices all seem absent to
James. However, in a world where divine intervention remains unseen, the practicality
of james reactionary position seems outdated and dangerous. The stories from lifeenews dot Com
by Terry Schivo Life and Hope Network on January twenty fifth, twenty twenty four.
Oh, I, you know, I really thought that the whole Terry
Schibo story had been buried a long long ago, and I thought it was
really, really weird that we would have, like a celebrity today kind of
commenting on a story that was resolved literally twenty years ago. It's just really
weird. I'm not sure that anybody even remembers what the Terry Schivo case was
about. So I had a little quick rundown over here I was going to
do for everybody. Terry Schivro had a heart attack at the age of twenty
six. She was clinically dead for actually quite a while, and as a
result, she lost oxygen to the brain, resulting in massive damage and she
went into a permanent vegetative state for the next two years. Doctors did everything
they could for her, but they diagnosed that she would never ever come back
out of the state that she was in. So after two years of literally
doing everything in this guy that her husband, her husband did everything he could
for her, and he made the decision to pull her feeding to since it
was up to him he was the next of kin. Her parents took him
to court, got to stay, and then a long legal battle ensued.
Eventually the husband won. He pulled the feeding tube. But then wait,
Governor Jeb Bush steps in and he puts a stay on it, and he
saves her. And then when he loses in court, his brother, the
President, George W stepped in and put a state to it. In the
end, this whole three during circus went through fourteen appeals, numerous legal motions,
petitions, hearings in the Florida courts, five suits in federal district courts,
extensive political intervention at the levels of Florida state legislator through the governor,
US Congress, President George Bush, and four denials from the Supreme Court of
the United States. That's how important or crazily crazily important this case was.
Back in its day. The GOP took it up as a big cause.
They even had a political scandal over it from a memo that one of theirs,
I don't remember if it was a representative or a senator, one of
his memos was made public saying that they needed to milk this incident as much
much as they could to get votes for their side by championing her cause.
In the end, the husband did win. They pulled their feeding tube.
She did pass away. They did an autopsy and she only had like half
of her brain left. The rest of it had been replaced by fluid,
and she never was going to come out of it. And if you read
this article, it makes it sound like she actually had a chance of being
a normal person again, and that just it just wasn't going to happen,
unfortunately, and Harry, what was really sad about her case is the way
that like the goop milk did to get votes, and I feel like a
lot of people took advantage of her, took advantage of her death. It
was really really sad. So Phoebe do you want to add to non life
kind of ran down the story. What do you think I mean? I
was quite young at the time this. I was eleven years old in this
painte and I remember it was on British news as it's kind of like an
only in America story. I remember the ITV news correspondent Robert Moore going,
only in America, would you see on like a Saturday night, Sunday morning
legislation pointing at one person, one person, literally one person, they can't
damilication. The Congress was in recess and it was called back. It was
like an augan. It was like the middle of August or something. I
don't remember exactly when it was, but I always remember the line Robert morseid
and today the President of America did one thing that no other president has ever
done, signed a bill specifically for one person only in America. Would this
kind of thing he forer when religious conservatism meets medical ethics. I don't understand
why this case ended up doing what it did because it's a clear violation of
the separation of powers doctrine because it's the judiciary being overruled by the legislature then
being overruled by the executive, which is the separation of powers is you to
begin with. But then I don't actually understand why they were getting involved in
the first place. I just don't understand it. This, this, this
whole story was full of things where I just I don't understand this part of
it. And then I read this article about somebody I've never heard of speaking
on a podcast and an organization I've never heard of about a case I've forgotten
about. So why is this even news? Why is some celebrity quote unquote
talking about a case that's been ancient history for a long time. I don't
get it. But the article itself is gratuitous, The article itself is misleading,
and the article itself diminishes the legitimate argument that if you take out God,
what do you have here at the end of the day. The argument
if you strip away God is does another person have a right to ask another
person kill me? Well, I guess I'll start off by addressing Kevin James.
I mean, the celebrity I love the people use their platform to help
other people in need. Like that, let's full stop right there. I
love seeing that. It's refreshing and there. Now that I've said something positive,
let's get to the bullshit. So before I get more into what Kevin
was saying, let's talk about Bobby Schindler, the guy who was pretty much
organizing all this stuff. He's pretty much the actual subject of the article.
So when Bobby's statement, he says, it's refreshing to hear someone in Hollywood
speak on behalf of our medically defenseless. So far we are in agreeance.
And then he says, especially in this pro death culture, let me stop
you right there, Bob? Can I call you Bob? These people are
so they are so freaking unbearable. Why insert that into this conversation? Like,
can we have a single discussion about anything without somebody calling attention to their
made up culture that they're crusading against. Cancel culture, woke culture, death
culture, which I've never heard of before I read this article. Just why
aren't you death positive? Aren't you? You know? I am culture movement
that I'm thinking of inside? Isn't that what we do here? All four
of us? Culture? So Bobby continues, it is encouraging that in this
canceled culture buzzword, a well respected celebrity with an enormous fan base dares to
speak the truth and that it should only be our divine creator who decides when
a person's life ends. So for anybody that couldn't tell, Phoebeu hinted at
this. The news site is called Life News. It's a right leaning conservative
outlet, rated by media bias, fact checked as a questionable source. Shock.
I'm not surprised that there's no pushback for any of these statements made in
the article, but that's why we're here. I, for one, don't
want God or God's involved in my medical care. God doesn't decide when I
die, because the figment of my doctor's imagination shouldn't play a role in how
I'm treated. And I strongly encourage people to talk to your family. Let
it be known how you wish for your body, your remains, what remains
of you when you're partially here. Let them know how you wish to be
treated in the case of an emergency. And if I'm being kept alive for
like like a while, medical professionals don't see me coming back and I'm a
strain on my loved ones. Let me go, don't get it twisted.
If I'm not a burden, give me a fight chance. Well, please
don't leave any of it to the sky wizard, because I mean, even
as far as their beliefs go, he put me in the hospital to begin
with. So I'll say good on Paul Blart for using this platform to fight
for people in need, but both his motivation and his execution can use a
lot of work. And for deal what you got. I have no doubt
that Kevin James is sincere when he's taking this position now, so unfortunate.
Sincerity doesn't get you very far in the real world when it comes down to
sincerity meeting reality. The truth is he's a good Catholic, and the Catholic's
position on suicide in general is quite specific, and one reason is the elephant
in the room that nobody wants to talk about. They follow Jesus, and
Jesus died by suicide by com I mean, really, when it gets down
to it, he made that choice. He made the decision to do that.
So when you're supporting a messiah who made a choice, and we look
back and there are people in history who have chosen to die for whatever reasons
they believe to martyr themselves. Suicide was really not that big of a deal
in a lot of their minds until about the third or fourth century. Now,
having said that, I have a very strong position, and I agree
with something Blatant said, and that is I want a society that protects those
that can't protect themselves and the people are sick and in harm. I believe
that we need to do things as a society for their betterment, universal health
care anyone. Oh wait, I doubt that's not what they're talking about.
But we're not talking about the terry. Shibo is a perfect example of someone
who was being watched after by her husband. There is a line of choices
of who gets to control if there's no you know, there's no living will
there now? I spent close to two years planning to die, and it's
a very serious thing for the family and for the For someone to think that
they can take away because he's looking at this is that it's God's right where
you know, he has every right. Mister James, you have every right
in the world to have your family bring you to the bitter end. If
that's what you want, but don't take away my right and the rights of
other people to make a different decision than you. This goes back once again
to a religious view being not enough that I can or can't do something,
but that you can't either. And that is where Kevin James needs to wake
up and realize that maybe he's better off in sitcoms and you know, Comedy
Hour and uh, maybe a podcast, not making life and death decisions for
other people who've thought about and made those decisions their own. To me,
this is just in somebody else trying to get some publicity, making some popularity
by dragging something up, because you know, they're they're they're losing on the
pro life end and I think they're just trying to shift things a little bit
to death with dignity at this point. Kelly, Yeah. And I think
they're using James here. As you know, he's a good Christian, he's
a celebrity, so what he has to say about right to life has got
to be good, right, And it's like me saying, you know,
Daniel Rancliffe, he's an atheist man. He was great as a boy wizard,
so he should know everything about right to life, and that that's just
a ridiculous idea, you know, especially on that tray. Will you get
back on that, especially when you're talking about a case that's it's like literally
twenty years old, you know. And I think it goes to show that
it's even mentioned in this story about having a living will and making sure that
you have one, Phoebe, you would probably be in a unique position of
all of us to talk about something like that. And what do you think
about where's the panel think about the importance of having a legal living will?
And maybe Phoebe, you can illuminate us a little bit more around that depends
what you mean by living will, and there's no such legal term as living
will. It's called an advanced directive, right, right, right, You're
absolutely right. It's my bad. So an advanced directive is what you set
out that will happen to you in certain cases of either catastrophic injury, terminal
illness, or other similar incurable conditions that occur to you. This can be
that you want treatment to continue forever until you die, or it can be
no treatment full stop, or it can be a halfway house. You can
in these advanced directives say I agree in advance to take part in experimental medical
experimentation. If there is a possibility of the improvement of my life. You
can also say that I refuse all medical treatments that are experimental. So it
depends upon what you want. Everybody, in my opinion, should be quote
death positive, not as in your pro death. But you should not be
a death Do not be afraid to talk to your loved ones about death to
one of two things that are certain in this world, the other one being
taxes. Can't remember who I'm misquoting there, But there are three things in
my opinion, that you should have. You should have a will, should
have an advanced directive, and you should have a safe, known place where
they are stored, whether that be with your attorney, that be in the
family safe, whether that be under your pillow. Make sure your loved ones
know where it is, make sure you know where it is, and make
sure you update it on a regular basis. You want to be an organ
donor and your family don't know about it, and your organs go to put
they can be useless. Me personally, my spinal column and my brain.
I have set up to have that donated. My wife she knows about that,
and I do even though I'm not that old. Do have an advanced
directive in case I have a car crash or a crash my motorcycle. My
wife said, you're mad having a motorcycle. I said, yeah, but
I live once. But I don't want to live that life in a position
where I'm unable to function in a way that is of any useful benefit to
myself. That's just me, But me personally, I can't stomach this is
just me personally asking someone else to kill me. I can't personally do that.
If you can, that's up to you. But I could never put
a doctor in a position to say, please euthanize me. I could never
do that. But that's just me. Other people are happy, and medical
professionals are happy to take on that position. But me, personally, my
own own internal compasses, I cannot ask anyone else to kill me. I
can refuse treatment, yes, and I can die, but I can't have
someone else take my life. I can't put someone in that position. It's
not a religious thing. It's I could not ask anybody else please kill me.
That's just my position. That'd be hard for me too, blaytant.
I just want to help you out with your quote earlier. I don't know
who originally said it. I know it's a Marvin Gay song where he says
there's three things that are for sure, and Texas death and trouble, those
days are going to come. I'll let take credit for it. He deserves
it. So, speaking about advanced directives, I was actually a medical assistant
working in the er a few years ago. We had an elderly patient who
was he was crashing and as he was going, I was called up to
apply CPR. We had our team in there, We're doing all this stuff,
and as I'm pushing, someone comes in and says, hey, have
you got read his advanced directive? His daughter, who cares for him,
only living family he has, has already stated that we're not supposed to be
sustaining when he goes. He goes. So imagine me pushing on this man's
chest and just looking him in his eyes and realizing that, okay, I
have to stop. I can't do anything here. That was his right,
that was the right of his family. It wasn't my right to say,
oh no, I'm saving him. I'm already here, I'm doing this.
I'm I can't let this man go. I'm looking at him right, and
I can't let him go. This is my this is my responsibility. No,
in that field, in other people's lives, they have the right to
make that choice. And he had made that choice. So I had to
take my hands off and step back and watches this man took his less breath.
That still sticks with me to this day. So I cannot imagine what
it would feel like to be that family member hearing that. The executive branch,
the legislative branch, Congress, all these people are coming in to say,
oh no, he's gonna live. That would be insane. So like
at that level, that's crazy. If I can take my hands off this
man and watch what is Congress doing from a from a billion miles away?
What are they doing? What the president doing? What they do and you're
campaigning on it, that's I'm just gonna say, that's disgusting, and I'm
going to pass it off to him for do quick word. Yeah, they're
they're they're politicizing this. And then once again that's what we're hearing. And
you know, you mentioned Kelly that the husband finally won and they were able
to And the truth is is, I don't think he won either. I
mean, he prevailed and what he thought was right, and everyone lost.
And unfortunately, even now, you know, a decade later, we're still
seeing this family willfully, unfortunately be used as a as a pawn. And
that's the most unfortunate thing is that we still haven't been able to let it
go. And one last thing, I know we're running short here, but
Phoebe, I'm with you. When it's time for me to make that decision,
it's time for me to do it, not have someone else to do
it. But I also understand that I'm glad that's available for those of us
who aren't willing or aren't able to make that decision. That's once again not
my choice or not Kevin James's choice to make. My opinion, any person
who is a legal majority should sit down. Even if you're like eighteen and
you never think it's going to happen to you, you should sit down and
you should go hang on it. What if I am hit by a bus?
You never want to think about it, but do you really want to
be spending fifty sixty years in a coma. There was a gentleman in the
UK who set a record. He had a motorbike accident at the age of
twenty two. He died, never regaining consciousness. At the age of ninety
seven, spent fifty five years in a coma. It condemned come to any
of us. There's a lot of things to think about, and a lot
of people have a lot of different opinions, and we want to hear some
of yours, So put him in them as below,