The business about "Culture of Death", it seems to me, misses the great point: Death is an aspect of life! No life is without its death; you're not going to avoid it.

Now, since death will come, it is incumbent on us to make that last transition meaningful, if possible, and as pain-free as may be.

I know I am going to die sometime; there's no secret about it, and no possibility of avoiding it. I will try to put it off as long as I reasonably can, but I hope not at the cost of loss of personal dignity, weeks and months of pain (to me and my loved ones), and/or financial ruination of my family. That last is important, because the family represents continuing life. I hope that if I were in Terri Schiavo's position my wife would have the courtesy to pull the plug (or the tube, if that's what it is.)

Dave Oesterreich