It looks like it's Manion vs Hornberger on the LRC page today, both sides represented, and, I just don't agree with Jacob on this one. First off, this "court of law" stuff is nonsense. A court of law can also order my house to be bulldozed to make way for a pinball arcade, as well as rule that I can be put in jail for consuming ephedra. I don't know if this has ever been brought up, but why is the husband the all-determining factor in this case? Why is he - a man whom she married under a State-approved contract - the one to determine what she wants, what she needs?
He was/is (?) her husband, but so what? That is a contractual relationship (that has already been broken), not a power-of-attorney over life and death. The death decision aside, what makes him the arbiter of life? Why not the parents, the woman who gave birth to Terri? Mr. Schiavo has moved on with another woman. His intentions *should* have been interpreted by this "court of law." His power over her life is what's wrong with the court of law. No one should be graced with that power by any jury or judge or marriage contract.
A second point: why are people watching her die? Why didn't some maverick doctor - or any other medical practitioner - refuse to pull the feeding tube? Why did her care facility oblige the murdering courts? Why are the parents standing by, not pulling some stunt to have the tube re-inserted? Maybe I'm being simplistic, but what are the courts going to do when faced with a barrage of doctors and family disobeying their killing order?
