President Bush has announced that he supports a "presumption in favor of life" in American society. Tom DeLay has supported the use of more medical treatment and therapy in order to help Terri Schiavo recover from her condition. Why, then, do they both support a budget that cuts a program dedicated to helping kids and adults suffering from brain damage?

Deborah White explains:

The Bush budget entirely eliminates 14 programs for children and families. Tom DeLay pushed the Bush budget to House approval last week. And despite their public pleadings to keep Terri Schiavo connected to a life-supporting tube, Bush and DeLay plan to kill the federal Traumatic Brain Injury program that helps thousands of Terri Schiavos.

Among HHSD programs slated by Bush to be terminated in 2006 are:

Traumatic Brain Injury Program – Benefits children and adults in the same situation as Terri Schiavo by assisting states to expand access to services for brain-injured persons and their families. Since 1997, brain-injury victims in 49 states have been helped through this life-preserving program.

Emergency Medical Services for Children – Is an initiative to reduce child/youth disability and death due to severe illness and injury. Medical personnel, parents, volunteers, community groups and businesses all participate in this joint program.

Deborah lists a number of other medical programs that provide important care to Americans, but I'm just citing these two because of their more immediate relevance to the Terri Schiavo case. If Bush, DeLay, and other Republicans are really so serious about the importance of providing care to brain-damaged people so that they don't languish in hospices, why are they cutting these programs? If they really do believe in a "presumption in favor of life," why are they cutting so many life-saving medical programs?

Read More:

• Guide to Ethics and Morality
• News About Ethics
• Bioethics
• Terri Schiavo: News & Issues