What Choice is There Left But to Die?

The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article about the ongoing battle over Terry Schiavo's fate. Schiavo is the Florida woman who has been in a vegetative state for 14 years while various parties bickered over her medical treatment. Her husband, her legal guardian, has argued (persuasively, the courts think) that she would not have wanted to be kept alive with artificial means and plans to unplug her. Her parents, on the other hand, have fought a losing battle to keep their daughter "alive" at all costs. After every conceivable court held against the parents, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the state legislature intervened (spurred on by numerous "pro life" groups). They enacted a law specifically protecting Schiavo from the courts. Such a narrowly defined law, that benefits only one person, is unheard of. It's also a tragic use of the state's power to interfere in one of the most private choices a person (or her loved ones) can ever make. Lawyers are set to battle it out in state supreme court over the law's constitutionality. At some point, you just have to let go - everyone should have realized that sometime in the past 14 years.