Terri Schiavo controversy made simple

You heard it here first: Terri Schiavo is not in a fight for her life. She is not fighting at all. She is innocent to and seemingly unaware of everything surrounding her disease and her demise. She has no recognizable will to live or die. Her husband, her chosen mate, has interpreted her wishes to mean she would choose death at this point. Her parents, meanwhile, are not trying to interpret Ms. Schiavo's wishes at all; they are using their own agenda and bygone cultural values in their amazingly persistent and contentious attempts to prolong her life.

Who is really brave here? And who really deserves to decide? Will there be any heroes? And why is the public now so intensely drawn to this case?

Because it is/has become a stark case of life and death - and what each means - and what control we should have over our own lives and the lives of our children and spouses.

The fight for Ms. Schiavo's life is not her fight but a fight among factions trying to oversimplify not only the right to die or live but also how it is best to live - and whether living is always best.

There is much talk of "saving" Ms. Schiavo's life. Was her life "saved" up to now? Or was it prolonged? Isn't there some sort of distinction we should consider here? If Ms. Schiavo is kept alive, does that mean she is "saved"?


more soon.......