Help society's helpless first

Another powerful letter to the editor in The Orlando Sentinel:

Bishop Thomas Wenski writes eloquently and persuasively as he points out that "the mark of a civilized society was that the helpless had the greatest claim on our protection." And I agree with that statement -- but not in the way the good bishop would like me to.

I apply his statement to the fact that there are millions of people in this society who are unprotected, but, unlike Terri Schiavo, have no protesters chanting on their behalf, have no prayer warriors roaming the halls of Congress, and have no political capital to squander. Who are these people, these unprotected masses ignored by our good government and church people?

We are the working poor -- those of us who work day in and day out at low-paying jobs, people who have no health benefits, who cannot afford health insurance, yet make a few dollars over the arbitrary limits set for medical assistance from state or local governments, thus rendering us to deal with serious health issues alone.

With this latest action, many people believe that God has answered their prayers concerning Schiavo. Perhaps he has, I don't know. I do know that Congress has decided that people like my husband, families like mine, are not worthy of protection. If they, and the good bishop, truly believe in the right to life, then they would campaign hard and long to ensure that affordable health insurance and affordable health care were realities, not political slogans.

If they believed in the right to life, then Congress and the good bishop would take up the cause of my husband's need for cancer treatment in the same way they have latched onto Terri Schiavo. But I know this won't happen -- the feeding tube will be reinserted in Terri Schiavo, and the tumor in my husband will continue to grow and grow until it claims his life.

Why?

Because the reality of this country is that we are not all equal -- some of us don't have the right to life.

Beverly McCartt

Winter Park

Makes one wonder where we are headed as a country. The idealism we shared in our youth is long gone and is rapidly being replaced by an unhealthy cynicism. With the Republicans in power it seems as if the loonies are truly in charge of the looney bin.