I'll have to go with "GUEST" on this one. I have been watching this case for some time, and was appalled when Gov. Bush intervened to force the re-insertion of the feeding tube. The State had no business getting involved in this private family matter. Good for the Supreme Court.

Nobody makes this kind of decision easily or lightly. It's been obvious for many years that Terri was never going to get better. If it hasn't happened in 14 years, it's not going to happen. I can't imagine what makes the parents think she'll recover. And since she was married, they are no longer her next of kin -- her husband is. I doubt very seriously if he cares a fig for her "estate" (which can't be much after all these years of nursing home care), but I'm sure he does want to get on with his life, and I think he ought to be able to. Living with this kind of limbo is horrible for everyone involved.

Several years ago, my father suffered a severe stroke which left him unable to speak or otherwise communicate, and unable to swallow, which meant he got a feeding tube. He'd been a journalist all his life, and not being able to speak or write must have been hell for him. I know it was hell for my mother, who had to take care of him. He did have a "living will," stating he didn't want to be kept alive by artificial means, including a feeding tube, but for a long time the doctors kept telling my mother he would get better. But he never did -- just kept getting worse -- until my mother's doctor realized that if the living will was not invoked and the feeding tube removed, she would probably die before he did.

It was a very difficult decision, but it was obvious to everyone in the family that he (and she) had suffered enough, and it was time to end it. During that time, I had to deal with all the non-family members who felt a need to add their two cents' worth. One night I was screamed at on the phone by two people -- one a home-care worker who insisted it was murder and that we were all murderers, etc., etc., and the other an old family friend who yelled at me for letting it go on so long -- "this should have been done two years ago!" But the decision was not theirs to make. It was my mother's, and she did. It was the right thing to do, but definitely not easy.

Well, none of that has anything to do with Terri Schiavo, but it may explain why I feel so strongly that this poor woman must be allowed to die.

Nancy