JD Vance Got Terri Schiavo Wrong: She Made it Clear All Lives Matter

Vice President J.D. Vance released his book Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith last month, where he raised issues regarding the case of my sister, Terri Schiavo.

The Vice President expressed frustration with the enormous amount of attention one woman received from evangelical leaders, arguing that broader ethical issues involving “a world filled with overlooked tragedy” were not receiving the consideration they deserved.

But the Vice President’s critique misses the real tragedy of what transpired. By framing the events as an overzealous cultural war invented by religious groups, he fails to see a painful truth: the institutional Church did not overreach; it failed.

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For those who may not remember, Terri was just 26 years old in 1990, when she collapsed at home while with her husband, Michael Schiavo, for reasons that remain unknown. Although she sustained a severe brain injury, she was not dying. She had no terminal illness, was not on life-support machines, and was not brain dead. With basic care, food, and water, provided through a feeding tube because of her swallowing difficulties, Terri could have lived a normal lifespan.

However, within two years, Michael, who was Terri’s legal guardian, began a relationship with another woman and lost interest in caring for his cognitively disabled wife, eventually petitioning the court to withdraw her feeding tube. As a result, Terri died of dehydration on March 31, 2005, after being forced to go nearly two weeks without food and water.

Contrary to the Vice President’s frustrations, Terri’s case became a global focal point because it raised a fundamental, unsettling question: Does society have the right to decide that a severely brain-injured person has lost their inherent dignity and that their life is no longer worth living? Should food and water still be considered a basic universal right owed to every human person?

Unfortunately, in Terri’s case, a Catholic priest’s testimony violated the tenets of the Church regarding persons with severe brain injuries. Testifying on behalf of Michael Schiavo during the original trial, he claimed that Catholic teaching permitted the removal of Terri’s feeding tube, thereby disregarding the moral obligation to provide food and water to patients in Terri’s condition.

Following the trial, our family pleaded with Terri’s bishop to publicly address the priest’s testimony and reaffirm faithful instruction. Unfortunately, the bishop’s indifference only created further confusion for the laity and failed to provide the clarity and leadership that were desperately needed.

It was not until very late in Terri’s case, and in response to growing public scandal, that St. John Paul II issued his March 2004 allocution, reaffirming the Church’s teaching on the provision of food and water as ordinary care for patients like Terri.

One can understand the Vice President’s position, wanting a focus on the issues he witnessed as a child, such as poverty and addiction, rather than a single case. Still, his argument ignores a central Christian truth: the value of a single human life is absolute.

In Christian theology, the mandate to protect the vulnerable applies to every person, not just to large groups. Moreover, defending Terri aligned with the foundational Catholic principle of solidarity: that every life matters, no matter how helpless, and that we are one human family.

Because Terri’s case involved unprecedented legal, medical, and moral questions, it inevitably became an international controversy. The Church did not generate this attention; the gravity of what was at stake did, sparking a public defense that was necessary to confront this injustice.

The need for the Christian community’s public witness is evident when considering the scandal within Terri’s own religious community. The lack of clarity created a serious moral void, demonstrating that when institutions meant to protect the vulnerable fall silent or become compromised, faithful and ordinary Christians must step in.

Severe consequences are inevitable if the Christian community remains silent in cases like Terri’s, as that silence would tacitly give society the right to determine whose life has value and whose does not.

Likewise, allowing the state or a guardian to end the life of a disabled person with no voice opens the door to a utilitarian view of the individual, one that can ultimately erode protections for all vulnerable populations.

From this perspective, the Christian outcry was not about ignoring the suffering of others; it was about standing on the front lines of a profound moral crisis and defending a defenseless human life.

It was precisely because of the circumstances in Terri’s case that our family established the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network after my sister’s death. Grounded in the dignity of every human life, which bears the image and likeness of God, the Life & Hope Network serves as a voice for the voiceless, advocating for families who find themselves alone and overwhelmed within a complex and often bureaucratic U.S. healthcare system. We step into the gap to provide support and resources, standing with those who understand what it truly means to defend society’s weakest and most vulnerable citizens.

Terri’s case was never a political argument or a sideshow – it was a fundamental test of human dignity. Protecting this truth is neither optional nor conditional; it is a sacred command from Jesus Christ Himself. If we allow dignity to be stolen from the most vulnerable among us, we lose it for everyone.

LifeNews Note: Bobby Schindler and his family work as patient advocates, establishing the non-profit Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network in honor of his sister, Terri. Click here to learn more about the Life & Hope Network.